Half of My Heart
by iluvwillschuester
Summary: Takes place at the beginning of Bad Reputation onward. After they both hurt eachother's feelings, they realize that they will always love eachother. A little bit of Carma, and of course Wemma. Multi-chapter. R&R please! This is my first fanfic.
1. Chapter 1 Sue's Plan

Chapter 1- Sue's Plan

_It was all Sue's idea, _Emma thought as she sat at her desk and cleaned obsessively. She made sure there wasn't a speck of dirtiness anywhere. _Oh gosh, this is way too mean to do to Will. But... he deserves it, Sue said he slept with April and made out with Shelby, that's cheating,_ Emma was thinking. The one thing that was eating up at her was that Will was too nice to cheat and that Sue's plan was way too mean and humiliating. Emma had learned from being friends with him and dating him that Will indeed was a very sensitive man. Now that she thought about it that was one of the things she loved about him. A quick image popped into Emma's head, _Will with his hazel puppy dog eyes that were pooling with tears, his eyes reading how could you do this?._ Emma Pillsbury could not bear the thought of Will crying but it was too late. The more she tried to convince herself that Will was a horrible person, the more she found he was not horrible but sweet and kind. It was too late though, and in thirty minutes when Will walked through the double doors to McKinley High School he'd find himself feeling more hurt , ashamed and confused, than he ever had in his life. Now Emma thought back to the day Sue confronted her with the plan and the news. _Emma was sitting in her office organizing paper clips when Sue walked in. _

_ "Hello Erma, I have some devastating news for you about that curly haired clown you're dating," Sue said._

_ "What is it Sue?" Emma replied thinking that is was just going to be another cruel insult aimed at Will. _

_ Sue got up and closed the door. "A couple months ago I bribed his landlord into letting me put baby monitors under his couch and bed," Sue continued while Emma rolled her eyes. " And guess what I found out? He's been cheating on you!" Sue exclaimed proudly. _

_ Emma's mouth formed a small 'o' and tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, as she muttered a small 'what'._

_ "Yes, he has been a bad little boy," Sue carried on. "William slept with that drunk April Rhodes and made out with Shelby Coracon, another Glee club coach. It's a shame I really thought he liked you."_

_ Emma was now sobbing while she said quietly, "Sue please just go."_

_ "No," the Cheerios coach replied confidently. "I have a plan to destroy that gelled-hair maniac once and for all,"she said._

_ "I'd like to hear about this plan," Emma declared._

_ "Schuester's a very sensitive man, so we need to hit him where it hurts. This is going to be a two part plan. First we're going to put up posters with his face on it, with a caption reading slut or easy. These will be posted all over the school, he'll be so embarrassed and hurt he'll probably quit his job as the singing little misfits coach," Sue said smiling, and then she looked up at Emma who was fidgeting and... taking notes!_

_ "Are you sure Sue? This sounds kind of mean even for what he did," Emma __questioned. _

_ "Not at all, Elmo. Time to move on to part two of the plan, at lunch the day we put up the posters, you have to confront him. Tell him you know about Shelby and April and throw in a couple personal insults too. Even better confront him in the teacher's lounge in front of everybody, he'll be crying by the time you're halfway through your speech." _

_ "I don't know Sue, that sounds a little harsh. I mean Will's not that bad, he's been really nice to me," Emma said. Although she was saying Will was so nice, she really wanted to go with Sue's plan. She was really mad at Will but mostly hurt, and she wanted to hurt him the way he hurt her._

_ "The niceness is all part of his act, Esme. Now let's get down to business. I want a poster of SpongeHair SquareChins every two feet throughout the school. That way it's like he's taking a walk of shame to his classroom."_

_ "Okay..." the guidance counselor uneasily agreed._

Emma snapped out of her flashback and looked at the clock, ten minutes were left until Will and the rest of the school would come in and see the posters. Sue Sylvester walked into the guidance counselor's office, "Well Esmeralda we finally did it. Schuester probably won't even last the whole day with the posters and the confrontation you're giving him at lunch," Sue exclaimed evilly.

"Um, about that I'm not sure I want to confront him," Emma replied uneasily.

"What do you mean? We've come this far, we can't stop now. You're going to confront him at lunch." And with that Sue marched out of her office. Just then the bell rang, butterflies consumed Emma's stomach as she was about to ruin Will Schuester's life.

When Will walked through the double doors to McKinley High, he was very confused. First off, all the students were pointing at him and laughing with the exception of the glee kids. They just looked at him with longing and sorrow in their eyes. He pushed through the crowds of obnoxious high schoolers to see why everyone was laughing at him. Then he saw them, they were everywhere... posters of him with two bad words on them. His face flushed red and thoughts raced through his mind. _Oh my God, who did this? More importantly who found out about Shelby? Was it Sue or...Emma? But Will couldn't picture his sweet, innocent Emma doing this. Oh God, now she's going to find out!_ He thought. Will swallowed hard fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill over. His thoughts were interrupted, when he heard Principal Figgins yelling his name, "Schue! I need to see you in my office now!" the principal's face showed genuine concern along with some confusion.

Will wiped his hazel eyes free of tears and walked fastly into Figgin's office while avoiding stares, whispers,and laughter from the students around him. "William, what's going on?" the principal asked.

"I don't know," Will replied looking down and taking sudden interest in his shoes.

"Well, I will catch these hooligans. Okay? And if you want to leave at any time in the day you may," Figgins said.

"Thank you sir," Will replied walking back to his classroom, as his eyes were brimming with tears once again. This was going to be a long morning.


	2. Chapter 2 The Confrontation

Chapter 2-The Confrontation

_**Author's Note- Thank you to everybody who reviewed the first chapter, I forgot to mention that this is my first fanfic so reviews are very helpful. If you have any ideas or comments please review or pm me. Hope you enjoy!**_

Will Schuester's morning classes were horrible. All the kids were staring at him, whispering, and laughing at him. A couple of kids actually asked him what happened, to that he just replied back with a glum I don't know. He glanced at the clock, there was a minute left of 4th period. In a couple minutes, he would go to the teacher's lounge and talk to Emma. Will needed to ask her about this and try to explain what happened with Shelby. _I hope she doesn't dump me. I love her so much. Who did this to me? Probably Sue…but what if Sue and Emma did this? No, Em might be mad but she wouldn't do that, _Will thought just as the bell rang.

The classroom cleared out except for four students; Puck, Finn, Quinn, and Mercedes, his only glee kids in the morning. They made their way to Mr. Schue's desk slowly. Quinn spoke first, "We saw what happened, and we're really sorry. Do you know who did this?"

Mr. Schue looked up at his supportive students. "Thanks and no I don't know who did this. But I'm okay… really," Will said.

"No you're not dude. I saw you this morning almost in tears because now you're gonna lose that Pillsbury chick," Puck exclaimed.

"Mr. S, it's okay even tough guys get hurt," Mercedes said reassuringly.

"Yeah, and we're gonna catch whoever did this," Finn added.

"Once I get my hands on this punk, I'm gonna kick his a-

"Puck!" Will cut off. "Thanks for your support guys but I have to have lunch. And Puck? Please don't beat anybody up," Will said. Puck nodded sheepishly.

"You guys go ahead. I…uh need to get the worksheet," Finn mumbled as the others left the room.

"Okay Finn. Which worksheet do you need?" Will asked.

"None. I know you're hiding something about the posters. Please tell me, you can trust me," Finn pleaded.

"Okay but don't tell anyone. So you know how I'm dating Mrs. Pillsbury… I made a mistake a couple weeks ago. I kissed Shelby, the coach of Vocal Adrenaline, but that was it. And somebody- probably Sue found out about it and put up the posters. But I'm gonna go talk to Emma now, in the lounge," Will spilled.

"It's gonna be okay Mr. Schue. She'll still love you with at least half of her heart," Finn replied with a wink, then left.

Will looked at the clock, if Em came at her usual time she'd be in the lounge in ten minutes. Thoughts raced through his mind. _What if she hates me? What if she dumps me? But my biggest fear is that she put up the posters. Nah, she wouldn't have done that, _Will thought. He pulled his paperbag lunch out of his messenger bag, shut off the computer, and began to walk to the teacher's lounge.

Emma Pillsbury was very nervous for lunch. _Why should it be this hard? I hate him, right? It should be easy, _Emma thought. Just then Sue walked in, "Alright, Esme, are you ready to destroy Schuester's life?" she asked.

"Sort of. Sue is this really necessary?" Emma questioned quietly.

"Of course, now let's go. I'll be watching from the coffeemaker," Sue said.

Emma got up and followed Sue out of the guidance counselor's wing. Her legs felt like jelly and her stomach was being consumed whole by butterflies.

Will was pulling out a chocolate chip cookie, when Emma walked in. She looked confident… and mad. "Hey Em, we need to talk," Will said quietly, "… somewhere else."

"Why not here?" Emma said loudly almost yelling. Emma nervously glanced at Sue, who flashed her a thumbs-up. "I know about April and Shelby… you're a cheater and a slut!" She paused and looked down at Will, his hazel eyes were quickly filling with tears. "Did you hear that everybody? This man slept with and made out with two other women, while he was dating me. No wonder your marriage with Terri didn't work. I hate you Will, so much and yes I did put up those posters. Don't ever talk to me again," Emma yelled. Tears were now spilling down his cheeks. "Oh yeah, and I accepted going on a date with Carl, tonight. He's my dentist and- and he doesn't have curly hair," Emma exclaimed triumphantly. Although she acted like she just won an Olympic gold medal, she felt horrible about what she did to Will. Emma wanted nothing more than to hug him and wipe the tears off his face.

"Emma, I d- didn't sleep with April," Will stuttered in-between sobs. "I did kiss Shelby but that was it. H- how could you do this to me? Did you really want to h- hurt me so badly? Because if you did… then mission accomplished. I never thought you could be this mean," Will said crushed. Then like a little kid he wiped his nose on his sleeve, got up, and ran out.

"Will, wait!" Emma yelled after him. But it was too late.

Will ran out of the school building and towards his beaten up light blue car. He was cold, crying, and hurt. It was winter in Lima, so snowflakes were falling. He started the car and began heading home. Right now, he didn't care that all the other teachers saw him break down and cry. The only thing that mattered was that Emma had hurt him. He pulled into the parking lot and quickly made his way into his apartment. Will threw his keys on the floor, changed into a t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms and lied down on his bed. He was still sobbing as he tried to get his mind off her.

_Oh my God!_ Were the only words that registered into Finn Hudson's brain, after the scene happened. Finn let curiosity get the best of him and walked by the lounge during lunch to see what was going on between Mr. Schue and Ms. P. He saw everything, the yelling, crying and running away. Finn felt so bad for him, he'd never seen Ms. Pillsbury be so mean. Finn decided to tell the other glee club members and see if they had any ideas. The Glee club would fix this.

_**What do you think will happen on Carl and Emma's first date? Should it be at Breadstix? Let me know and please review!**_


	3. Chapter 3 Shattered

Chapter 3- Shattered

_**Author's Note- Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while... I went on vacation for a week and a half. I was going to say something in the last chapter but I forgot. My other story I Wish will probably be updated by Friday. Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed... it means a lot to me really. Especially HannahAli for suggesting your idea. I going to use a variation of that in one of the upcoming chapters. Once again thank you and please please review.**_

Emma Pillsbury sat at her desk glaring at the clock, willing the hands to move faster. There was eight minutes left of the worst school day of her life. After she confronted Will in the lounge, she ran back to her office in shame. Emma then canceled all of her appointments for the rest of the day. She felt as though she herself needed counseling. This was by far the guiltiest Emma had ever felt in her life. To make matters worse about twenty minutes after the incident, Sue came in to "congratulate" her.

_"Congrats Elmo! We did it, together we showed the school how horrible William Schuester really is. You know I honestly thought you wouldn't have the guts to do it but you impressed me," the Cheerios coach exclaimed proudly. _

_ "You know what Sue? You're a really mean person. I can't believe you dragged me along into your plan. What do you have against Will? I mean really, why do you hate him?" the guidance counselor exclaimed loudly._

_ "Between the curly hair that looks like it was dipped in a large vat of lard and coaching that group of singing little misfits, I don't know how you can't hate him," Sue said smirking._

_ "Well, I don't hate him. He's a good guy... really good and today we hurt him badly. Will ran out crying today. He left the school, that's how hurt he was. And it's all because of you, Sue," Emma spat out angrily._

_ "Wow. It's brave of you to accuse me of that. I mean you were a 100% okay with the plan, when we started. Also, just to remind you, you and only you were the one that just ruined Schuester's reputation and life," Sue said triumphantly. Then she left the room, leaving Emma sitting there in a state of shock and disbelief._

The flashback of this and the confrontation had been playing back in her head over and over, on a continuous loop. Emma spent the afternoon cleaning obsessively but even that didn't calm her down. She looked at the clock, one and a half minutes left until she could leave. _At least none of the high schoolers saw me yelling at their Spanish teacher... but they did see the posters. At least by tomorrow most of the posters will be taken down by the janitors. Oh my gosh! Tonight's my first date with Carl. Ugh! Worst. Day. Ever. _Emma thought as she grabbed her purse and coat. Ring! Ring! The bell rang and the guidance counselor was gone.

Finn Hudson ran out of history class and bounded down the stairs to the choir room. He was the first to arrive, thankfully because he had a lot of explaining to do. All the other members of the New Directions were wondering why Mr. Schue disappeared in the middle of the day. They obviously knew about the posters, everyone felt really bad about that. So after lunch Finn shot everyone a text that read 'Hey guys- Mr. S left but come 2 the choir room after school & I'll xplain everything. See u there! - Finn :)'. Just then Rachel, Santana, Brittany, Puck, and Mike came in. A few seconds later the remaining members walked in.

"Hey man, what's going on with Schuester?" Puck asked.

"Okay guys, that's why I brought you here today. We all saw the posters this morning and Puck, Quinn, Mercedes and I even asked him about it. He said he was fine but he was obviously lying," Finn explained.

"So, what did you find out?" Kurt asked excitedly. He loved gossip of any kind.

"Wait! Finn before you tell them you should tell me. Because as co- captain of the Glee club, it's my duty to know the important information concerning Glee club," Rachel told him.

"Oh my God, Berry! Get over yourself," Santana yelled, as Quinn and Brittany rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, tell us what's going on," Tina added.

"Okay, okay. Everyone saw the posters, right?" Finn paused, everyone nodded. "Well, I asked Mr. S about the poster's meaning and he told me," Finn continued.

"So, you really didn't need a worksheet?" Mercedes asked.

"Exactly," Finn replied smiling. "Anyways, he told me that a couple of weeks ago he made a mistake. Mr. Schue kissed Shelby, another glee coach but that was it. He felt really bad about it but didn't tell his girlfriend Ms. Pillsbury. And somebody found out and put up the posters. Now, he thought it was Ms. Sylvester," Finn explained.

"It probably was," Matt said.

"Nope," Finn said. "It was Ms. P."

"No freaking way," Quinn replied.

"Is it illegal for me to beat up a 30- year- old woman?" Puck asked, while everyone rolled their eyes.

"That's not all," Finn continued. "So, during lunch I walked by the teacher's lounge, to see what was gonna happen. Ms. P like totally confronted him... loudly. She was yelling and all the other teachers were watching. She said she knew about Shelby and April. April turned out to be false information. Ms. P also admitted to putting up the posters. Then she insulted his hair, his divorce, and pretty much everything about him. Next, she said she started dating somebody named Carl. This is the worst part... Mr. Schue broke down. About thirty seconds into the speech he started crying, by the end of the speech he was bawling. At the end he ran out crying," Finn said.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Artie.

"I seriously want to beat up Pillsbury now," Puck said.

"We need to help him," Rachel said.

"I hate to admit it but Rachel's right," Quinn said.

"I have an idea... how about Puck and I go talk to Ms. P tomorrow, and then after school we take Mr. Schue to Breadstix," Finn suggested. Everyone agreed, now Finn and Puck just needed to figure out what to say to Ms. Pillsbury.

_**Okay... so at first this chapter was going to be a lot longer but then I changed my mind and decided to make it two chapters instead. So I'll try to have chapter four up by Saturday. Also, let me know if you think I'm putting the Glee club in character as it's kinda hard to write dialogue for them. One more thing.. check out my profile page I updated it and made a coming soon area. Thanks for reading and please review! :)**_ __


	4. Chapter 4 Mac & Cheese

Chapter 4- Mac & Cheese

_**Author's Note- Sorry guys! I know I said I was going to update by Saturday but then my computer had issues. So today, I just went over to the public library to type this out. Thank you to everyone who reviewed…you guys are awesome. Seriously your reviews are what keeps me writing. If you guys are interested I put up a lot of my new story ideas on my profile page, so check it out. And please answer my poll! Thank you again and please review!**_

Will Schuester looked at his bedside alarm clock, it read 8:30 pm. When he got home at lunch it was around 12:45, the past hours had been torture for him. The Spanish teacher spent a lot of time crying on his bed, thinking of the guidance counselor who broke his heart. Will didn't even cry this much when he and Terri divorced. He tried to watch _Singing in the Rain,_ that always cheered him up… but he couldn't even concentrate. Will got up and looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes were red and puffy, Will's curly hair was messily sticking up in peaks, and his cheeks glistened with tear stains. _Oh great! Right now Emma's probably getting into that dentist's Corvette or BMW or something. I bet he's all dressed up and wearing some strong cologne and I'm here in pajamas and crying uncontrollably. Come on, pull yourself together Will! She's just a girl…no she's not. Emma was the one, we were going to get married and have kids and- and live happily ever after. Wow. Now I sound like a chick flick, _Will thought.

He walked over to his laptop, and started it up. Then he clicked on his e-mail, half-hoping there would be an apology from Em. The page loaded- Inbox: 0 new messages. Will groaned, he was unsure of whether he was more angry or hurt. After checking ESPN's website for NFL updates, Will wandered over to the kitchen. He was tired and didn't feel like cooking so he dug through his fridge until he found it. A box of microwaveable mac & cheese. Mac and cheese had always been his favorite comfort food. _This, a few chocolate chip cookies, and a glass of milk, a perfect dinner… for one, _he thought glumly.

"Ladies first," Carl said with a wink, as he opened the door for Emma. Emma just smiled. The car ride had been pleasant and now they had arrived at the fanciest restaurant in town. Honestly, fancy wasn't really Emma's scene. She would have much rather gone to a small, quiet restaurant or even Breadstix.

After the waiter showed them to their table, they sat down. Emma was a little surprised that Carl didn't pull out her chair for her, it was something that Will always did. _Stop thinking about Will! You're with Carl now. I can still see the tears and hurt in his eyes, though. I never imagined the day I'd see Will cry and I never thought it would be because of me, _she thought. "Hello? Earth to Emma? I've been calling your name for almost a minute," Carl said, bringing Emma back to reality.

"Oh! I'm sorry. What were you saying?" she asked.

"Finally, I was afraid you lost it. You were just like obsessively cleaning your silverware with this weird look on your face. But anyways what would you like to drink?" Carl replied.

"Water's fine," Emma said, picking up a menu. All the dishes were very fancy and some she had never even heard of. She skimmed the menu until she found a section named 'Classics.' There it was, the third item, Macaroni & Cheese served with a side of Applesauce.

"So what do you think you're going to get?" the dentist asked.

"Um, mac & cheese," Emma said.

"Are you sure? Because there's a lot more better things served here," Carl suggested.

"I know it may be simple, but I like it. It's the only dish containing dairy that my mom could get me to eat as a kid," Emma replied nervously.

"Well, okay then. I'm going to have mezzegrino pasta," Carl said. He then ordered there food. "So, how was work?" he asked.

_Um, I humiliated my best friend then made him cry in front of everyone so…pretty good. How about you? _Emma thought. "Fine, and you?" was what actually what came out of her mouth though.

Despite the rough start, the rest of the date was good, and Emma actually had a great time. Now that they had finished dinner and dessert, they were standing outside Emma's apartment. "So, I don't know about you but I had a great time," Carl said.

"I did too," Emma replied nervously, not knowing where this was going.

"So, can I see you soon? Like in a few days…maybe we could go on another date or something, if you're interested," Carl suggested.

"Yes, that would be great actually," Emma replied. Then Carl leaned over and kissed her gently and quickly. Emma's cheeks turned a rosy red as Carl walked away. For just a second there she almost forgot all about Will.

Beep! Beep! Will's alarm clock rang, he glanced at it, 6:30 am. _There's no way I'm going to school today. I cannot face Emma, in fact I don't think I ever can. Or the kids, how embarrassing would that be? I'll call in sick today and then come in tomorrow and act like nothing happened if that's possible, _he promised himself. Will then groggily walked over to the phone and dialed the school's attendance line. He got voicemail of course, because at this time in the morning nobody was at school. "Hi Jan, it's Will Schuester the Spanish teacher. Um, I'm sick today so I won't be teaching," Will coughed for effect. "So, if you could get me a sub, that would be great. I'll probably be back tomorrow. Tell Figgins not to worry, Glee will be singing at the winter dance on Monday. Thanks, bye," he continued.

Then the Spanish teacher walked over to his laptop and went on YouTube. He had to at least start looking for the songs for the kids. The Christmas- themed dance was on Monday of the next week and it was Wednesday. Will clicked on a video; this song would be perfect for him to sing at the school dance. It expressed exactly how he was feeling and he was sure the New Directions would agree.

_** So, what do you think? Did I have Carl in character? Oh yeah and HannahAli if you're reading this I'm using your idea in two chapters. Thanks again for all the reviews I got last chapter. You guys are rock stars. It means a lot to me. So, please keep it up and review this chapter! **_


	5. Chapter 5 Messages

Chapter 5- Messages

_**Author's Note- Hey guys! So I think I'm doing on time for this chapter…the last one came out on Friday. Also, in case in you haven't been reading my other story I Wish(I mentioned it there) I just got a new laptop, 2 days ago, so updates will be coming more frequently. This chapter is mainly Emma and the New Directions, btw. HannahAli next chapter is my take on your idea I hope you think I interpreted it the right way. Oh almost forgot…Thank you sooo much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I got five reviews, that's a personal record for me. I was thrilled, you guys are so awesome! Let's try to match that or…even beat it this chapter! Enjoy **_

Emma checked her watch, it was exactly 7:30 in the morning. So by her standards, she was right on time. The guidance counselor dreaded coming to school today, she was too afraid to face Will. _I'm such a coward. I'm the one who did the damage, now I'm afraid to face the consequences. It doesn't matter because I'm going to see him today anyway. I need to plan an apology speech during my free period. Wow, I feel like a high schooler. In fact yesterday I overheard Puck and Finn talking about an apology speech for Puck to one of the cheerleaders. I've sunken to a new low, no, I'm lower than low. I feel like the mold on bread or the gum on the bottom of a shoe. What if he doesn't forgive me? No, he's Will he'll forgive me. But I broke his heart, and humiliated him in front of everyone. He'll probably never even talk to me again. Or maybe even look at me. Hopefully he'll be forgiving; Will doesn't have a mean bone in his body. I can't believe I did this, hurt the man who wouldn't hurt a fly. _Ring! Ring! She was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. _What? Who would be calling this early?_ A part of her hoped it was Will. She grabbed her phone out of her lilac purse, it was her mother. "Hello," Emma said.

"Hey Emmie. I missed you honey. So what are you doing right now?" Mrs. Pillsbury asked.

"Um, I'm at school," Emma said, she was glad to hear the reassuring voice of her mom.

"Oh, sorry, is this a bad time to catch up?" her mom asked.

"No, not at all. Actually the school doesn't actually start for thirty minutes. So, we can talk," Emma said, glad for the distraction.

"Okay. So how have you been, honey? Are you still with Will?" Mrs. Pillsbury asked, innocently.

Emma lost it, she couldn't hold it in any longer. She needed somebody to guide her for once, instead of the other way around. "Mom, I did something horrible yesterday," Emma said.

"What? What'd you do? I'm sure it's not that bad," Her mom asked, concerned.

"I broke his heart. I heard a rumor that he cheated on me, it turned out to be only half true. So, I took a drastic measure and teamed up with his worst enemy, to create a plan to destroy him. We made posters with his face on it, and calling him a cheater. Then, we put them up all over the school. That was only the beginning. At lunch, I confronted him, hurting him intentionally, and making fun of him. He was sobbing. Sobbing, by the time I was done. He got up and ran out, in the middle of the day. I'm hoping he comes to school today so I can apologize. Not that I think he'll accept my apology. I was so mean, I feel so bad. It was in front of everybody, Mom. He was crying. This was all yesterday," Emma said. She wiped away a sole tear from her left cheek. Emma breathed in heavily, it felt good to finally let it all out.

"Honey, is 'he' Will?" her mom asked, hesitating.

"Yes," Emma said quietly.

"Oh, dear. I'm so sorry," Mrs. Pillsbury said.

"Don't be, mom. It's all my fault. Did you not hear me? I'm a horrible person, I broke the sweetest man I know's heart. Oh and I forgot to tell you, I'm dating someone else now. He's my dentist, his name's Carl. We went on our first date yesterday. He doesn't know anything about Will," the guidance counselor said.

"Honey, I'm going to give you some advice. Don't date Carl, by doing that you're hurting Will even more and a guy never wants to be the rebound. Anyways, this is probably going to be the most important thing I tell you in a long time. If a man is brave enough to love you after you broke his heart, I guarantee you he's the one. Well, I have to go now Emma. It was nice talking to you and remember what I said. Bye," her mom said, and with that she hung up. Emma just stared at the phone and thought about what her mom just said.

Finn Hudson and Puck Puckerman were walking down the halls of McKinley High School. Both were a little nervous and anxious. "Alright man, you know what were gonna say right?" Puck asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Finn assured his friend.

"Okay then. Ladies, first," Puck said, opening up the door to Ms. Pillsbury's office. Finn rolled his eyes and walked in.

"Oh, hi there," Emma said, clearly surprised.

"Hey, Ms.P. Puck and I were just wondering if we could talk to you," Finn said.

"Yeah, it's kind of important," Puck added.

"Okay, then. Just close the door and take a seat, boys," she replied.

"So…like how have things been with you and Mr. Schue lately?" Finn asked, innocently. Emma's eyes grew wide and she looked shocked.

"Um, I don't really think that's any of your concern," the guidance counselor replied, perplexed.

"Really? Okay, then. Let's move on to your new boy toy. How was your first date with Carl?" Puck asked, sneering. Even though, everyone thought he was a troublemaker with no heart…he really did care about Mr. Schuester.

"Stop! Please boys, what do want? What do you even know? Have you talked to Will? How was he?" Emma rambled, she couldn't believe what they knew.

"Calm down, it's going to be alright," Finn said, genuinely. While Puck rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded a lot like 'Okay, Dr. Phil.' "Okay, so Mr. Schue told me about Shelby, yesterday before lunch. He'd seen the posters and was really worried, he was going to go talk to you. Now, I know I probably shouldn't have done this but I spied on the teacher's lounge during lunch. So yeah, I saw everything. I only told the rest of the glee club and they're not going to tell anyone, they promised," Finn said.

"I feel so bad, I just, I don't even know anymore," Emma said. "But I still don't know what you guys want," she continued.

"We want to help you. Even though you're dating that dentist, we want you and Mr. Schue to sort things out," Puck said.

"Yeah. You guys don't have to get back together…but you guys had a great friendship. And I know that no matter what happens, he'll still love you with at least half of his heart," Finn told her, while Puck nodded.

"I've never seen any guy look at a girl the way he looks at you," Puck said, surprising himself. That may have been the deepest thing that he has ever said.

"Thank you, boys. Have you guys by any chance, been able to talk to Will?" Emma asked.

"Nope, but were planning on it. You know he's not here today right?" Finn informed her.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised. He was heartbroken," Emma said, sadly.

"We're going to tell him, that we talked to you and you're really sorry," Puck said.

"Okay, thank you," Emma said. Then the two teenagers left, leaving her with once again a lot to think about.

Will Schuester checked the time in the bottom corner of his computer, it read 4:35. School had been over for about an hour now. _I should probably check my phone, I've had it off all day. There will probably be no messages though. I pretty sure the glee kids could figure out if I wasn't there, there's no practice. Do they even know we're performing at the dance? I don't think so, I'll go back tomorrow. For…the glee kids not Emma. I don't ever want to talk to her again, _Will thought. He whipped his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. He looked at the screen…he had 12 voicemails. They were all from Emma, he felt like chucking his phone at the wall but his body betrayed him. Before he knew it his phone was against his ear and he was pressing play.

_ 'Hi Will, this is Emma. I'm really so sorry, I feel so horrible. Please give me a chance to explain myself.'_

_ 'Hi again. I'm so sorry…you don't even know how bad I feel. I noticed you weren't at school today, and are you okay? What I'm talking about…of course you're not. Okay, I'm bad with words just call me.'_

_ 'Hi Will, it's Emma. Sorry to keep calling you but you're not picking up. You're probably mad at me but I promise I'll make it up to you. Bye.'_

_ 'Hey, it's me. Please, please call me. I was so wrong yesterday, I was mean and it was all because of Sue. Bye.'_

_ 'Okay, so I called you like two minutes ago and I said it was all Sue's fault. And I'm not using her as a scapegoat like you might think. Actually the posters and the confrontation was her idea and… I agreed. Sue was the one who told me about Shelby. I'm so sorry, it is all my fault.' _

_ 'Will, I understand if you never want to talk to me again. But I really need to have just one conversation with you. We really need to talk, I was a jerk yesterday. Okay that's an understatement but please just call me.'_

_ 'Hey, I know you're still not calling me, but I just wanted to say I'm really sorry again and also NBC is having a The Office marathon starting at 3 pm. I know that's your favorite show, so…yeah. Just thought I'd tell you. I miss you, at work, home, in my heart, everywhere. Please call me. I'm so sorry Will.'_

_ 'I miss you.'_

_ 'I'm so sorry Will. Please come to work tomorrow, if not for me than for the kids. Please call me.'_

_ 'I don't know how many times I've said it but I'm going to say it again…I'm sorry Will. I've never been this sorry in my life. I hate myself right now.'_

_ 'Hi Will. I think at this point I'm just calling your number to hear your voice on the answering machine.'_

_ 'Hi Will. I'm going to tell you something really important. I'm really sorry, I was a complete jerk yesterday. I was so mean and I knew it. I should've never listened to Sue…only God knows why she wants to destroy you. When I saw you crying in the lounge, the only thing I wanted to do was wrap my arms around you. I wanted nothing more than to wipe away your tears and tell you everything is going to be alright. Will, you're the best friend I ever had. You have no idea how much your friendship means to me. You're not anything that those posters said. You're the nicest person I know. You'd never do what I did to anyone, not even Sue. Your relationship with Terri wasn't a failed marriage…she didn't notice the little things about you that make you special. Like the way your hazel eyes shimmer when you smile, or how you grade grammar tests with red pen and vocab tests with green pen. You belong with someone better than her. Will, I'm never going to forgive myself for what I did to you. And I can only hope that someday you'll find it in your heart to do something I'll never be able to; to forgive me. Will, you're the greatest thing that ever happened to me.'_

By the time the last message was done, Will was softly crying. He wiped his eyes with the heel of his hands but the tears kept streaming down his face. Will took in a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled. He looked down at his phone as if it held the answers. Will couldn't even think straight, his mind was a train wreck. Half of his heart wanted to run back into Emma's arms, the other wanted to keep a long distance from the red-headed heartbreaker. He was completely torn… but her last message had really got to him. She said that he was the best thing that ever happened to her… does that mean she loves him? But what about Carl? Will was still unsure if Emma was still with Carl but he thought the chances were high that she was. He wondered what Carl looked like… was he older or younger? Was he better looking than Will? The questions, thoughts, and endless possibilities were all running through his head at full speed. Ring! Ring! Will's apartment doorbell rang. Will slowly walked to it, to look through the peephole. He wondered who it was. If it was Emma he wasn't quite sure what he'd do. Will wiped his eyes one last time, and hoped it didn't like he'd been bawling for almost two days straight. Will took a deep breath and slowly turned the door handle.

_**Haha! Cliffhanger…I just had to do that. This chapter was getting really long anyways…usually my chapters are 1,000 something words…this is above 2,000. So who do you think's at Will's door? Emma? Let me know if you have any ideas. Just review or pm me. Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed the last chapter…you guys are serious rock stars. I love you all. I still can't believe I got five reviews. So please review! Next chapter is coming soon!**_


	6. Chapter 6 Breadstix

Chapter 6-Breadstix

_**Author's Note- Hey everybody! Sorry I haven't updated in like a week…I got busy. I promise that starting from now on, updates will come at least once every four days. Anyways, I left you guys stranded with a cliffhanger last chapter, so this is continuing from there. In case you forgot Will is just opening the door after hearing Emma's voicemails, and it's the day after the confrontation (Wednesday), and the dance is on Monday. I almost forgot, thanks for the reviews last chapter, they were awesome. But since I only got two, I was a little disappointed, because I know you guys are out there. So please review! **___

Will Schuester nervously twisted the door handle, wondering who could be on the other side. As the door creaked open, he found none other than the New Directions standing there. All of the students were there, most were wearing sad and sympathetic smiles. "Um, hi guys. What are you doing here?" he asked, clearly shocked.

"Hi Mr. Schue, we knew you were feeling down and decided to check up on you," Mercedes said.

"Um, okay. Do you guys want to come in?" Will asked, embarrassed. _Great! Now they probably all think I'm a loser. They all saw the posters…but did they see lunch yesterday? I hope not. I'm supposed to be a role model, and they can all probably tell I've been crying, _he thought, as the glee kids slowly entered his apartment. They all looked around, with curious looks plastered on their faces.

"Okay, Mr. Schue. The real reason we're here is because we know what happened between you and Ms. Pillsbury," Finn confessed, while everyone nodded.

"What do you mean?" The Spanish teacher asked, puzzled. _Oh God! Please say they don't know everything! _he thought to himself.

"Well, we know that Ms. P put up the posters and Finn saw her yell at you in the lounge. He heard everything, so he came and told us. But don't worry we're not telling anyone. Please don't be mad at us, we just want to help," Quinn explained.

"Oh God. Look, I'm really sorry you guys had to see that but there's really nothing you and I can do. She's already got a new boyfriend, and she obviously doesn't care about my feelings," Mr. Schuester told them. _Maybe she does care about my feelings a little bit. I mean, she did call like twelve times, but if she cared she never would've done that, _Will thought.

"She does care. It's obvious that you two belong together, I mean really everyone knows it. You two are like Romeo and Juliet with all the obstacles you have to overcome. And Puck and Finn went to talk to Ms. Pillsbury today, and she's really sorry," Kurt explained.

"You talked to her? What did she say?" Will asked, suddenly interested.

"She feels horrible, all Ms. P wants is your forgiveness," Finn said.

"Oh, okay," Mr. Schue replied. He was a little disappointed that her forgiveness didn't include loving him or getting back together.

"Anyways, we're going to take you out to dinner at Breadstix," Mike said.

"I'm not even in good shape," Will said, motioning to his face and pajama pants.

"So just get dressed quickly. We'll wait outside," Santana suggested. Then she and the rest of the New Directions went into the hallway.

_Alright, where are my jeans? And a good shirt, _Will thought, as he rummaged through his clothing. He pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans and grabbed a long sleeve dark gray shirt. Will pulled the shirt over his head and ran his hands through his hair a few times. The glee coach looked in the mirror, he didn't look horrible anymore. In fact, you could barely tell he'd been crying. Mr. Schue grabbed his tan leather jacket and headed out the door.

"Okay, so I was thinking everybody could take their own cars and meet up at Breadstix," Matt suggested. Everyone nodded, said good bye and began walking back to their cars.

Emma Pillsbury's phone buzzed. She quickly snatched it off the kitchen counter, hoping it would be the curly haired man, whose heart she broke. Emma looked down at its small screen, it read '1 new text- Carl Howell.' Emma sighed, she expected guys to call back but not this soon. The guidance counselor opened the text, it read, _Hey Em, meet me Breadstix in 30 min.- Carl_. Emma's breath hitched, only Will called her Em. _Oh no…what have I done? I'm leading two men on…with absolutely no idea what the future holds. Well, I should go to Breadstix, _Emma thought. She grabbed her purse and walked outside to her car. When she started the car, the radio came on. It was 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey, Will's absolute favorite song. _Why does everything remind me of him? Argh, well maybe because you practically killed him. I just wish we could be friends again, _Emma thought, sadly. The song ended and a pop song came on. Emma looked outside her window; he was so close to her but so far away. If only she knew that Will was at Breadstix that very moment.

Will laughed at Brittany's joke. The Spanish teacher was actually having a good time. The food was great and the kids were all being very supportive and kind- even to one another. "So, you guys know we're singing at the winter dance, right?" Will asked, he hadn't told the kids yet. But news spread as fast as a plague in the halls of McKinley High, so he figured they'd already heard.

"Yes, and I took the liberty and picked out songs for everybody at practice yesterday," Rachel exclaimed.

"Thanks, that's great guys. Is everybody happy with their song choices?" Will asked, concerned. He knew that Rachel could be controlling and wanted to make sure every kid got their say.

"Yeah, the dwarf actually did good for once," Brittany said. Everyone laughed at that, even Rachel. The restaurant door opened, and Will glanced back to see who it was. He dropped his fork at the sight of her, it was Emma. The glee kids caught him staring and looked towards the door and saw their guidance counselor with an older man. The man had black hair and had his hand around Emma's waist. They all presumed it was Carl. Will looked away quickly and as much as it embarrassed him, he felt that familiar stinging in the back of his eyes and the ache in the pit of his stomach. Emma hadn't spotted him yet, at least. If she talked to Will, he wasn't sure what he'd do.

Quinn put a reassuring hand on her hurt teacher's back. "Do you want to leave?" she asked quietly.

"No, it's okay. I want you guys to have fun," Will said.

"It's not fun for us to watch you in pain," Puck admitted. Finn signaled for the waiter and paid the split the check with everyone except Mr. Schue.

"Let's go get ice cream at Coldstone. It's only down the street, it can be my treat," Will suggested, looking at his shoes. He didn't want to accidently make eye contact with Emma.

"Great idea," Tina said. Everyone got up and filed out of their booth. As they walked through the door, Will couldn't resist. He looked back over his shoulder, his hazel eyes filled with hurt and pain. At the same moment, Emma looked up and spotted Will. Her big, brown eyes met his hazel, hurt ones for the briefest second. But it was long enough for them both to feel heartbroken all over again. Will's eyes darted back over to the exit and he walked out, without looking back again.

Emma couldn't focus on her meal or date for the rest of the evening, after seeing Will's hurt face. He was there with the glee club and she remembered Puck and Finn saying that they were going to talk to him. Her heart broke once more with the fact that he was able to face the glee club but not her. _I can't believe I did this to him. He looked like a sad puppy. Will wouldn't even come over and talk to me, not that I blame him. What I did was horrible…hopefully he'll come to school tomorrow. Then we can talk and I'll apologize in person. Oh…who am I kidding? He's never going to talk to me again_, Emma thought sadly, as she lay in her bed. It had been a long night for both of them, and this was only the beginning.

_**So, how was it? What'd you think? This chapter was extremely hard to write, I had writer's block for the longest time. Also, HannahAli if you're reading this; this is my interpretation of your idea. I hope you liked it. If you could please review and let me know what you thought, that would be awesome. Thanks again for the idea. For all the rest of you; ideas are gladly accepted in reviews. Who knows, they might even end up in the story;) Since this chapter was so hard to write, reviews would be greatly appreciated. So people, please review! I'll try to have my next chapter up by Wednesday. **____** Please R&R! **___


	7. Chapter 7 Sleeping with a Broken Heart

Chapter 7- Sleeping with a Broken Heart

_**Author's Note- Hey everybody! Thanks for all the reviews! They were all very kind and sweet. I'm so sorry; I know I said last chapter that I would try to update every four days…last week was a very busy school week! I was completely booked, I'm so sorry. To make it even worse this chapter was a very hard one to write! Thank you r0ckgal for your suggestion, I'm using an alteration of it in this chapter, I hope you like it. Here's the chapter, enjoy!**_

Will Schuester rolled over in his bed; he was beginning to learn it was impossible to sleep with a broken heart. It seemed every time he rolled or shifted, broken shards would poke him every which way, leaving him with that hurting lump in his chest once more. Will's heart broke once more when he saw Emma with Carl at Breadstix. It crushed the little bit of hope he'd had when he heard the messages, the little hope that they'd work this out and that she really loved him. Will looked at the ceiling but instead of seeing the cream colored wall above; he saw the guidance counselor's sad face. _Why did she have to be there? Is the world against me? I'm so stupid. How could I let myself believe she might actually love me? It's obvious that Emma's heart belongs to me no more. I'd kill just to have one normal conversation with her again; one about Glee club, or Sue, or even Terri's crazy antics! Anything…just to go back to the way everything was two days ago. I wish I could just call her and talk it out, after all she's been begging me to. But…I'm not giving in; I don't want this to turn into Terri's and my relationship. Emma needs to know that I'm broken, in every possible way. What am I talking about? She doesn't even care! Emma already found a replacement for me in Carl. He's a dentist! They make way more than a teacher does! He'll be able to treat her right by giving her expensive gifts. Maybe I shouldn't go to school tomorrow. Tomorrow is Thursday, so I'll still have plenty of time to practice with the New Directions, _he thought. Will shut his eyes and tried to fall asleep unsuccessfully. He sat up and rubbed his eyes; he then got up and picked up his cell phone off the night stand. Completely unaware of the consequences, he began dialing the number.

Ring! Ring! Emma Pillsbury rolled over in bed and turned her alarm clock light on. The digital clock read 2:03 am. _Who on Earth would be calling at this time? If it's Carl, I swear I'm breaking up with him. This person better have a good reason,_ Emma thought. She fished her cell out of her bedside table drawer and flipped it open. "Hello, this is Emma," she said. The guidance counselor didn't bother to look at the number; she was too tired. There was a muffled noise on the other end. "Hello? Is anybody there?" she asked. When there was still no response Emma looked down at the screen…it was Will on the other end. Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest, she put the phone back to her ear so fast that she almost dropped it. "Will! Are you there? Please don't hang up!" Emma spat out. She waited for what seemed like an eternity for an answer and she got none. Emma looked down at her screen again, Will had hung up. "No," she whispered quietly. _Oh God, Emma! He actually called! Maybe he's not so mad…maybe he just wants to patch things up. Yeah, maybe that's what happened, he just got scared when he heard me. No, Emma this isn't right. Will's not supposed to be scared of me; we're supposed to be best friends. I guess we're not best friends anymore since I decided to ruin his life. I miss him so much; I wish the last few days never happened. If only he knew how I felt truly, maybe then he'd forgive me. Hopefully he comes back to school tomorrow, _Emma thought, and with that she drifted off.

_What was I thinking calling her at two in the morning?! I think I'm going crazy, I mean really. I never wanted to talk to her again; so why did I feel the urge to call her? Maybe because the more I deny it, the truer it becomes; I'm in love with Emma. Even though from now on I'll never say this out loud but I will always love her. She's the first woman who truly captured her heart and I'd like to think I used to hold hers. Okay, now that I already embarrassed myself enough by calling her, there's no way I'm going to school tomorrow,_ Will thought. Will stared at the ceiling for about twenty minutes before finally falling asleep. Beep! Beep! Will's alarm clock rang at six- thirty in the morning. He groaned before rolling over and shutting it off. The Spanish teacher quickly rang up the attendance office and reported his second absence. He knew he was going to have to go back to school sometime but he didn't want to. Will wanted to push off his return to McKinley for as long as he could. _Will I look stupid not going? Maybe she'll think I'm a coward. What about the glee club? Today's Thursday and the dance is on Wednesday, they need time to prepare and practice. Oh well, I mean I'm definitely going back tomorrow. We can have a long practice after school and a few next week too. They have Rachel so they'll be okay…I can't believe I just thought that. No matter how annoying she may be; she is talented. Emma will be fine…she showed that she obviously doesn't need me anymore. I want to be mad at her but I think that no matter what happens; half of my heart will always be hers, _Will thought.

The second hour bell rang, it was Emma Pillsbury's free period. _I can't believe he called me…maybe he doesn't hate me! Oh…what am I doing? Am I leading Carl on? And Will? At the same time? I just need to talk to him and apologize in person. I just…I love our friendship and even our relationship was good. Will was the best thing that ever happened to me, by far. You know what? I'm going to go talk to Will, now. I think he's at school, he was at Breadstix. Alright, well no use in stalling…I'm going to go talk to Will…now, _Emma thought, confidently. The guidance counselor got out of her seat and marched down the hallway. She paused as she rounded the corner, second guessing herself. Emma shook her head and continued walking, she reached Will's door. Emma peeked her head in the window but Will was nowhere to be found. Instead an elder lady was sitting in his seat, the name Mrs. Swiatek was written on the board. Emma groaned, she was crushed. She sulked back to her office, with no enthusiasm at all. _He's gone again…it's like he just slipped out of my fingertips once more. Will is like sand; when you hold it with your hand open it slips through the cracks, making you wish you had held onto it tightly in a fist. I should've held on to him the way he tried to hold onto me, with care, _Emma thought sadly.

_**Okay what did you think? It seemed kind of short to me but oh well. This chapter was really hard to write so I tried my best. Let me know if you think I'm dragging the story out or any other bad things. I'm so sincerely sorry that I haven't updated in almost two weeks…I feel so bad. My other stories I Wish (Glee) and You Belong with Me (The Office) will hopefully be updated within a few days. Thanks again for all the reviews last chapter and please review this chapter, it would really help. Please review, it's what keeps me writing! **____** Promise I will try to update sooner!**_


	8. Chapter 8 The Return

Chapter 8- The Return

_**Author's Note- Hey everybody! Sorry that it took over a week to update…I got my laptop taken away and then I got sick and I still am. Promise you I'm not trying to make up excuses. Anyways, I made a mistake in the last chapter. I said the dance was on Wednesday, it's on Monday, sorry for any confusion. So, right now it's Friday and the dance is on Monday. Thank you so much for the reviews last chapter! You guys are super sweet! Here's the chapter, enjoy! **___

Will Schuester's alarm clock rang, it was 6:30 on Friday morning. He groaned, sat up, and pulled off the covers. Today was the day he'd finally have to face Emma and he didn't even want to see her. _I have to do this. It'll show her that I'm stronger and I'm the bigger person, but…why do I always have to be the bigger person? I'd like to be small just for once. I can't just put this off forever, I work there too. I can just ignore her. I mean, I don't think that would be cowardly. Yeah, that's a great idea. That way I won't speak to her until I sing on Monday at the dance. Then she'll really get the message. Emma needs to know that she really hurt me. Wait, it's going to be really hard to ignore her. Every time I see her, I feel like crying like a little girl. So then I'll just like hide, but knowing her she'll want to talk this out. I don't want to talk to her or even look at her. Sorry Emma but you're not going to just counsel me through this, _Will thought, as he got dressed. Will was brokenhearted, scared, and nervous to see Emma all at the same time. This was going to be a rough day for him, plus he had glee practice after school.

Emma Pillsbury was cleaning her office windows. It was 7:45 and she hadn't seen Will yet. _He has to come to school today, he can't keep avoiding me. Well…if this happened to me, I'd probably be avoiding him for the rest of my life. Will's strong though and he'll pull through. Also, the New Directions are performing at the Christmas dance on Monday. Wait, Monday's the last day before the winter break. Yeah, Monday's December 22__nd__ so after that I won't see him for two weeks unless…we make up before them. Okay, today when I see him I'm going to talk to him. Even if he doesn't want to see me, I'll tell him just to hear me out. But what about Carl? I already told Carl that he'd be my date for the dance. Ugh, I should've never brought him into this. It's going to crush Will to see me with Carl at the dance, that'll be just icing on top of the cake. I seriously hate myself right now. If only he knew how much I miss him and how sorry I am, _Emma thought. The bell rang and Emma looked up at the clock, it was already 8:00. Students began piling through the doors, Emma mentally scanned through the sea of heads. She didn't see any light brown curls or lopsided smiles. She knew half the time Will arrived just as the students did but she had a feeling that today would be one of those days. _Well, at least I'll get to see him at lunch, _Emma thought.

Ring! Ring! The first period tardy bell rang, just as Will dashed into his classroom. _Perfect timing! I didn't have to talk to Emma or anything…even if it means coming in later than usual, _the Spanish teacher thought. As Will set up his desk and emptied out his messenger bag, he looked at his students. All of them were dead silent and there weren't even any glee kids in this hour. The kids looked up at him with curious, big eyes. "Hi guys, sorry I haven't been here in the past few days for um, personal reasons. So if you guys could just pass last night's homework up, that would be great," Will said. The class passed up the homework and got started on their warm-up without even being asked. Will skimmed through their homework, surprisingly the whole class had done it. _Do they feel…bad for me? They never act like this, _he thought. "Are you guys okay?" he asked.

There were scattered cries of 'yeah', 'sure', and 'we're fine.' But one girl, a nice Cheerio, asked, "Are you Mr. Schuester?" At this everyone in the class looked up from their work and towards their teacher.

"I'm fine guys, don't worry about me. What happened a few days ago is in the past, and I think it would be better if we all just forgot about it," Mr. Schue replied, nervously. If even his students could tell something was wrong with him, then what would Emma think?

The rest of the morning passed by smoothly and it was now lunch. All of Will's classes had been quiet and well-behaved. At the end of third hour Puck and Finn came up to him and suggested that he eat lunch with them, to avoid Ms. Pillsbury. He politely declined the offer but then realized what he would do about lunch. _Crap, Emma's probably looking for me in the lounge and if I eat in here she'll find me just as easily. Where's a place I can eat that she can't? I could eat in the…bathroom? Yeah, the men's room for teachers. It'll be sad but I can't talk to her right now…I'm just not ready to, _he thought. With that Will scooped up his lunch and went into the bathroom. Luckily there were no teachers there at the moment.

_Where's Will? I know he's here today, I saw his car outside. I can't believe I hurt him so much that he won't even talk to me,_ Emma thought. She was eating lunch in the teacher's lounge, sitting at what used to be their table, in the back of the room. As she nibbled on a carrot stick she realized where he may be. _Duh Emma! His classroom…we ate lunch there sometimes, _she thought. Emma quickly packed up her things and headed to the classroom. She peeked through the window but nobody was there. _No, where is he? I just…I need to talk to him, _Emma thought sadly, as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Emma swallowed hard, trying to escape from crying. Just then Ken Tanaka; Emma's former fiancé walked by, "If you're looking for your little boy toy, he's eating lunch in the little boy's room," Ken said, snickering. "You really are a heartbreaker, M &M," Ken told her, then he walked off.

_Emma, you are the stupidest person alive right now! You ruined a perfectly good relationship with Will, by breaking his heart. Oh god…he's eating lunch in the bathroom, surrounded by germs. But what do I want? To be friends again...or more? I'm with Carl right now, I can't just dump him before the dance. Okay, I'll dump him after the dance…because that's me. I'm just the queen of dumping men. Ugh, I hate myself right now, _Emma thought, as she returned to the lounge.

After the final bell rang, Will hurried down to the choir room. He didn't want to risk running into Emma by accident. All the members of New Directions were already there, clapping at his return. Will smiled for the first time all day, "Hi everybody. The dance is Monday, so I hope you've been practicing in my absence," Will said.

"We've been practicing a lot, Mr. Schue," Matt said, while the others nodded in agreement.

"Good, then let's get started," Will told them.

The kids all ran through their individual songs and group numbers and after a few hours they were done. Will didn't practice his own song, he'd been practicing a lot the past few days at his apartment. He said bye to the kids, packed up his things, and made his way to the parking lot. Thankfully, his clunker of a car was the only one left in the lot, which meant Emma had already gone. As he approached the car, he noticed a folded-up paper on top of the thin layer of snow on his front window. _What's that? _He thought to himself as he picked it up and dusted the snow off. Will slowly unfolded the note and began reading.

_ Dear Will,_

_I know you probably never want to talk to me again but I've been waiting for a chance to talk to you. What I did to you was wrong on so many different accounts and I'm really sorry. And I know right now you're probably thinking 'Well, sorry doesn't cut it Em.' But there are no words to express how regretful I am of my actions. I heard from Ken that you ate lunch in the bathroom today, no doubt because you were hiding from me. I can't believe that I've caused you so much pain that you had to eat there. It's filled with germs you know. I know you're very hurt and sad right now and you need time to heal from the wounds and pain I've caused you but I really think we should talk this out. I understand if you aren't looking to be friends again right now but I think you should at least hear me out. So if you feel like coming over and listening to my apology and sorting things through, then just call me. I'm pretty sure you have my number but if not its 327-8824. Please call me or just stop by my apartment, when you're ready to talk. I miss you Will and I don't want to lose you forever. –Emma_

Will re-read the letter three times before entering his car. As much as the letter had saddened him, it also made him the slightest bit happier to know that Emma still cared for him. _I just…I don't even know right now. Half of my heart just wants to run back into her arms and pretend everything's okay but…the other half doesn't even want to look at her, or even speak to her again. And right now, I'm not sure what half to listen to, _Will thought glumly as he drove home for the weekend.

_**Okay, what did you think? I know this is getting sad but trust me, it's all part of the plan. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I feel extremely bad, please don't stop reading and reviewing because of that. I'm thinking to do Monday's school day next chapter and then after that break the dance down into multiple chapters (sorry Moonbike). I hope you like the story so far. Please review! You guys make my day! Promise to update within a week. **___


	9. Chapter 9 Clockwatching

Chapter 9- Clockwatching

_**Author's Note- Hey everybody! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in like a week and two days; I got my laptop taken away again (yeah, I know, I'm on a roll here). Thank you so much for all the kind people who reviewed last chapter! You guys are so nice and sweet! Okay, this chapter is on Monday and its December 22**__**nd**__**, also it's the day of the dance. Here's the chapter, enjoy! **___

Will Schuester weaved through the swarm of students on Monday morning. He had a fairly uneventful weekend; he spent most of it debating about whether or not to call Emma. In the end, he hadn't called; Will decided to at least wait until after the dance to even think about talking to her. Will finally reached his classroom door, a small group of students was already gathering outside of it. He walked up to the door and unlocked it, leading the way in. The Spanish teacher placed his things on his desk and turned his computer on. While the kids were settling down and pulling out their warm-ups, Will pulled open his school email. _Doubt I even have anything in here. Maybe just a few announcements about the dance or something, _Will thought. He looked at his computer screen and nearly dropped his coffee mug; there were three emails from Emma. Will opened up the first one slowly, unsure if he even wanted to read it. Reluctantly, the email loaded up, filling his screen with her latest apology.

_Hi Will- I just arrived at school; it's 7:25. I know you probably won't be getting here until the kids do but I wanted to let you know that you're free to talk to me anytime of the day. Just come on in…I'll cancel any previous appointments I may have had. –Emma_

Will sighed, at least she was persistent and making an effort to apologize. He opened the next email, without even glancing at the class's early morning antics.

_Hey Will- It's like 7:45 and you're still not here. I'm guessing you woke up late like usual. Anyways, I really wanted to make sure you knew that you're free to come and talk today. I would actually prefer if you did. Hope you had a good morning so far. –Emma _

Will smiled and then stopped. He kept forgetting that he was supposed to be mad at Emma. Sometimes it was hard for him; he'd see something and immediately think, _I've got to tell Em about this. _But then Will would remember that he was no longer on speaking terms with her. The glee coach quickly opened the next email and waited for it to load up.

_Will- It's now 8:05 and I know you're here. Finn said he saw you in the hallway. So, I was wondering…would you maybe want to eat lunch with me? We can go halfsies on PB&J, if you want. I even bought a few cookies from the vending machine for you. If you don't come to lunch, they'll be waiting for you by your classroom door. I know you're hurting right now and what I did to you is unacceptable but please…just give me another chance. –Emma _

Will looked at his computer screen sadly; there was just no way to avoid Emma. She interrupted his thoughts, dreams, emails, and everything. He stood up slowly and walked to the front of the class; ready to start another painfully difficult day. To make it even worse he'd see Emma at the dance after school.

Emma Pillsbury pulled on a pair of gloves and opened up her paper sack, causing the gloves to crinkle slightly. She looked at the clock for the fifth time in three minutes; lunch had started ten minutes ago and there was still no sign of Will. Emma was in the teacher's lounge, sitting at what used to be their table. _Where is he? I honestly thought he'd come…I even tried to bribe him with cookies! I just can't accept the fact that I may have lost Will…forever. If he's eating in the bathroom again…well I guess there's nothing I can do about it for the moment. The dance! I'll see Will at the dance tonight! The glee club's performing and he might be too. There's no way he can avoid me there…I can take him back to my office so that I can apologize. Wait, if he's performing…what if he sings a song about me? Usually he sings about things that are happening in his life…he sang 'Gold Digger' about Terri. Oh no…gosh, Emma what have you done to this poor man? _Emma thought, sadly. Sue Sylvester walked up to her table carrying a weird- looking protein shake with her.

"Hello Elmo, looks like the gel-obsessed glee coach has abandoned you," Sue exclaimed, grinning evilly. Emma looked up timidly; she was really upset at how Sue tricked her into hurting Will. "I know where he is right now. He's hiding from you in that beat-up thing that he supposedly attempts to drive. It's pathetic really; he looks like a hurt puppy right now. Schuester's whole demeanor has changed; from what I've seen so far. He's talking quieter, his eyes always look like they're on the verge of tears, and really, like I said before; total hurt puppy look." Sue walked away after delivering the bad news to the guidance counselor.

Emma looked down at her carrots, she suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. Instead she felt sick to her stomach after the new she just heard from Sue. Emma glared at the clock willing the hands to move faster, she wanted this whole day to be over. The only thing she wanted was a chance to talk to Will after the dance.

Will Schuester had spent the last fifteen minutes of his sixth period staring at the clock, he had been zoned out most of the day and his students knew it. Sadly, the only time he smiled this afternoon was when he ate his cookies from Emma, as much as he wanted to hate her; half of his heart kept hanging on. Luckily, they actually were behaving well and respecting their broken-hearted teacher. Will kept looking at the clock, wishing he could either go back in time or skip through time. He wasn't sure what he wanted more at the moment. Ring! Ring! The final bell rang, signaling the end of a long day. Will said bye to his students and began packing up his things. There was no glee practice after school, he wanted to make sure they'd have time to prepare for the dance. _What if I make eye contact with Emma during my song? Should I? I honestly don't know if I can…it might be too painful for me. I just don't want to start crying every time I see her; but no matter what the inside of me always will be weeping when I do. I just wish I could go back to the start, _Will thought.

_**So what did you guys think? This was a hard chapter to write, so I hope you liked it. Sorry again for the delay in posting. I should have the next chapter up in a week, at least. The next chapter will be the beginning of the dance! **____** Please review, it means a lot to me! **____** Hope you liked it!**_


	10. Chapter 10 Already Gone

Chapter 10- Already Gone

_**Author's Note- Hi everybody! Sorry for not updating in over a week…I feel bad as usual. It's been a really busy school week though. Anyways, I've been really psyched to start writing the dance. Thanks to all the people who reviewed! You guys are awesome and I love you all! I hope you guys like this chapter, I enjoyed writing it! **___

Will Schuester pulled into McKinley High's parking lot. It was 6:30 and the dance was due to start in fifteen minutes. _Come on Will, you can do this. Even with Carl here, you're going to have to be strong. Just ignore Emma and get up there and sing the song. It's going to be kind of hard to ignore her though, _Will thought, as he got out of his car. The Spanish teacher locked his car and began walking towards the building.

"When are the students coming, babe?" Carl asked, snaking his arm around his girlfriend's waist.

"In fifteen minutes," Emma replied, tensing under his touch.

"Okay. How was your day?" Carl questioned, smiling down at her.

"Um, it was okay," Emma said, craning her neck to see if Will had arrived yet.

"Are you okay? You look really distant," he asked, with concern.

"I'm fine. I've just got a lot on my mind," Emma answered, not caring in the slightest where Carl thought her mind was.

"Alright, so is there going to be a lot of slow dancing?" Carl asked, playfully.

"I think so," Emma replied. She looked up and her breath caught in her throat. Emma saw him, Will had just walked in the door but he hadn't noticed her. _He's here! Will's really here. Oh gosh, I'm going to have to talk to him. What will I say? I'm sorry I broke your heart? Yeah, that's a great conversation starter. Wow, he looks so handsome and cute…_ Emma thought, studying the Spanish teacher. Will was a little dressed down than most people. He was wearing a green Lacoste polo with a white t-shirt underneath, his tan leather jacket on top, khaki dress pants, and black Converse low-tops. Had this been a week earlier, Emma would have laughed at his boyish appearance but now it was just a sad reminder of the relationship she wrecked.

Will weaved through the growing crowd of high schoolers and their teachers, making his way towards the stage where the glee kids were waiting. He hadn't seen Emma yet and didn't want to see her until he sung his song. Will walked up to the stage and unzipped his jacket, placing it with the kids' own coats. As soon as Rachel spotted him, she ran up to her teacher.

"Hi Mr. Schue! Finn's getting ready to sing backstage, he's leading off. You should be getting ready too, you're singing towards the beginning of the dance as well," Rachel exclaimed.

Will heard what she said but it didn't register in his brain, he had spotted something beyond Rachel's shoulder. Rachel followed her teacher's sad hazel eyes and saw Ms. Pillsbury standing with an older man with black hair, she assumed he was Carl.

_Oh no…she looks beautiful. Please say she doesn't notice me yet, _Will thought to himself, as he stared at Emma. The guidance counselor was wearing a green knee-length dress and a black cardigan with black flats. The two staff members had both wore green, unknowingly. _God, is that…Carl? Ugh, I don't know why I still care about her. She's obviously moved on with dreamy dentist guy, _he thought.

"Mr. Schue? Mr. Schue? Are you okay?" Rachel asked, knowing that he wasn't.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm, uh, fine," Will replied, stepping to the side out of Emma's viewpoint.

"You miss her, don't you? Like you want to throw a rock at her face just to show her how much it hurts to miss her," Rachel said softly, her eyes flicking towards Finn for a moment.

Will looked at his student, confused. "Yeah, I guess I do." Will hesitated and took in a deep breath, "I think that I'm just filled with like more hurt than hate towards her. Does that make any sense to you?"

"Yeah, it does. You just need to take a break, I think," Rachel said, smiling hopefully.

"Thanks, it means a lot. So, when do I sing?" Will asked, trying to rid his mind of thought of the redhead.

"In about twenty minutes," the ambitious student replied, before waving and walking back to the rest of the New Directions.

Emma knew she had to stop Will and talk to him but she just couldn't figure out when or how. _Alright, Emma, you have to do this. Stop being a coward, just go up to him and talk…just like old times. Except that it's not…it's not the way it was a week ago. If only I could just go back in time but that's not possible. Next time, I just shouldn't screw up in the first place, _Emma thought. Carl was talking to the school's AP math teacher about some crime show on TV. Before she could change her mind, Emma began storming across the room to where Will stood alone at the snack table, munching on a cookie. When the guidance counselor was about ten feet away, Will looked up and noticed her, his eyes growing wide. Will began to walk away but Emma closed the gap between them quickly. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and Will turned around slowly.

"Emma…" Will murmured, his eyes glued to the ground. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Will, just, let me explain," Emma pleaded, her brown eyes filled with hope.

"I don't think there's much explaining to be done," Will said, softly.

"No, Will, you know there is. I don't like the way things are between us now," Emma said, trying to make eye contact with him but Will's eyes were glued to the floor.

Will finally looked up; his hazel eyes meeting Emma's brown ones. "I thought you wanted it to be this way, I mean like after what you did. Isn't this what you wanted to happen? What did you think? That I was just going to smile like nothing's wrong, talk like everything's perfect, act like it's all a bad dream, and pretend it's not hurting me?" Will suggested, his face filled with deep emotion.

"No Will, this isn't what I wanted at all, and I'm so sorry. I hate how it is now. I hate my brain piling up with things left unsaid but most of all, I hate you hating me," Emma confessed.

"I don't hate you. I never will. I just act like I do, because it's easier than admitting that I miss you," Will admitted, swallowing hard. The last thing he wanted was to break down in front of Emma again.

Emma looked at him, wondering how everything went so wrong. "Please just hear me out, I need to apologize and really talk to you. But not here, in a different room. It kills me to see you heartbroken and know that it's because of me," Emma said, quietly. Will looked up at her and Emma could sense the hurt in his eyes.

"Emma…I just, I'm disappointed most of all. I'm disappointed of how easily you turned into everything you said you'd never be. I'm hurt because it was so easy for you to hurt me, after hearing a false rumor from my worst enemy. You once said you never wanted to see me hurt, so did you close your eyes when I cried?" Will asked, looking into Emma's worried and confused doe eyes. When she didn't respond, Will began walking away.

"Will…wait," Emma called after him, but it was too late. He was already gone. As soon as Emma put her head down, Will glanced back over his shoulder. He saw her small body hunched over in worry and regret and…he just wanted everything to go away. All of this. The whole past week, to stay in the past. But he wasn't stupid, Will knew it wouldn't be that easy for him to forgive and move on.

When Will reached the stage, Finn was waiting for him. "You're on in a few minutes, Mr. Schue, right after this song," Finn informed him. Finn noticed his teacher's hurt eyes and vulnerable demeanor. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'll be better once I sing. I'm going to put my feelings all out there," Will responded, sneaking one last glance at Emma before stepping onstage.

_**So what did you guys think? Did you like it? The song will obviously be next chapter…I don't want to spoil it for you about which song he'll be singing. Please review! Your reviews are what keeps me writing! **___


	11. Chapter 11 It's Too Late to Apologize

Chapter 11- It's Too Late to Apologize

_**Author's Note- Hey everybody! Thanks for all the reviews I got last chapter! You guys are so nice, thank you all of you! This chapter is from where we left off; Will and Emma finally talked to each other, and now Will is about to get on stage and sing his song. Here's the chapter, enjoy! **___

Will Schuester squinted under the bright lights of the stage, as he grabbed the microphone. He scanned the crowd and saw Emma looking directly at him. Will quickly averted her gaze as the opening notes for his song began. _Well, here goes nothing. Actually more like everything, _he thought to himself.

_"I'm holdin' on your rope," _Will began singing. In the crowd, Emma winced immediately recognizing the song. She tried to make eye contact with Will, but he hadn't looked her way since the song started.

_"Got me ten feet off the ground," _Will continued, his hazel eyes shimmering under the lights.

_"And I'm hearin' what you say," _Will snuck a look at Emma, who had her big eyes fixated on him. Their eyes connected for a brief second, just like at Breadstix. Will quickly snapped his head to the side, looking at her was too painful.

_"But I just can't make a sound," _

_ "You tell me that you need me," _

_ "Then you go and cut me down…" _Will kept singing, ignoring the constant need in the back of his head to look at Emma. He could feel her eyes on him, hoping that he'll look at her.

_"But wait…" _

_ "You tell me that you're sorry," _Will sang, finally making up his mind. The Spanish teacher summoned all the strength in his body and looked at Emma. Their eyes crossed paths immediately, and remained locked on each other. It was painful for Will but he wanted to make sure the message of his song to Emma came across loud and clear.

_"Didn't think I'd turn around…" _Their eyes were still threaded together by an invisible string. Emma noticed how his hazel eyes were now turning to a darker green, flooded with emotion, a look she always saw on Will when he was performing.

_"And say…" _

_ "That it's too late to apologize," _Will sang, reaching the chorus. His hazel eyes were lit with emotion and bore into Emma, filling her with guilt.

_"It's too late…" _For the first time in the song, Emma wanted to look away, but she knew that would just make their situation even worse. Guilt was stabbing into her, and Will finally showing his feelings was killing her.

_"I said it's too late to apologize," _

_ "It's too late," _

_ "Yeah," _

_ "I'd take another chance," _

_ "Take a fall, take a shot for you," _Will continued singing, still looking at Emma. She almost looked like she was in as much pain as Will was…almost. The thing that was hurting both of them was that the lyrics were speaking the truth.

_"I need you like a heart needs a beat," _Emma wondered if Will's heart would ever speed up again when he saw her, or if he would ever get butterflies while speaking to her again, or if she would ever get to see that cute lopsided smile that he saved just for her.

_"But it's nothin' new, yeah!" _

_ "I loved you with a fire red,"_

_ "Now it's turnin' blue…" _

_ "And you say…" _

_ "Sorry, like an angel," _

_ "Heaven let me think was you…"_

_ "But I'm afraid…" _Will sang, looking at Emma with a million different emotions running through his thoughts and eyes.

_"It's too late to apologize," _Will's puppy dog eyes were seriously killing Emma; she was using all her willpower to not look away. Emma wanted to escape to a paradise; where Will and her were still best friends and Carl didn't exist and most of all, that none of this had happened.

_"It's too late,"_

_ "I said it's too late to apologize,"_

_ "It's too late,"_

_ "Whoa!"_

_ "It's too late to apologize,"_

_ "It's too late," _Emma wondered if it really was too late to apologize for her actions, all she wanted was for Will to hear her out.

_"I said it's too late to apologize,"_

_ "It's too late,"_

_ "I said it's too late to apologize, yeah!" _Will continued, his voice growing stronger with every word he sang.

_"I said it's too late to apologize, yeah!"_

_ "I'm holdin' on your rope," _

_ "Got me ten feet off the ground," _Will sang softly, ending the song. The crowd burst into applause and Will made his way backstage very quickly, he didn't want to face Emma.

"Wow, that guy was good. Do you know who he is, Emma?" Carl asked, walking up behind her.

"Oh, uh, yeah he was really good. He's Will Schuester, the director of the glee club and the Spanish teacher," Emma replied, nervously. Carl knew nothing about Will and she wanted it to stay that way.

"Cool, he looks like a nice guy. We should go and congratulate him," Carl suggested.

"No! I mean, um, he looks really busy," Emma said.

"Do you have a problem with this guy?" Carl asked, concerned.

"Not at all. Sort of. We used to be really good friends but I ruined it last week," Emma confessed, she wasn't lying but she wasn't telling the whole truth either.

"Well, it's never too late to apologize, or let him know how you feel," Carl said.

_Did he not just hear Will's song?! Hello? It's too late to apologize according to Will and One Republic. You know what? I should go talk to Will again, tonight. I'll just say that we really need to talk and…he can come over tomorrow, _Emma thought. "You're right, Carl. Do you think I could go talk to him now? Would that be okay?" Emma asked.

"Of course, honey. I'll wait here," Carl said, lovingly. That's what Emma hated, she felt like she was using Carl. And…she was, to get over Will, which she knew was impossible. Carl was being so nice to her and yet, he didn't know a thing about her and Will.

Will was sitting in his classroom by himself. He was tired and emotionally beat-down. Will glanced out the window and saw that it was still snowing, tomorrow would be the first day of winter break. So, he wouldn't be seeing Emma for over a week if nothing positive happened tonight. Just then, there was a light tapping on the door. Will was expecting a student but instead found Emma. "Uh, hi," Will said, shyly. He was looking down at his Converse sneakers that Emma loved.

"Hey Will. Can we talk? It'll be quick," Emma offered, trying her best to persuade him. Will's hazel eyes were still burning into his sneakers. Emma lifted his chin up with two gentle fingers and he looked her in the eyes, his expression full of shock. Emma knew he probably didn't want her kind touch but she thought somehow it still soothed him.

"O-okay," Will stammered, closing the door. He sat on top of a student's desk and waited for Emma to begin.

"Will, I really think you need to hear me out, the message of your song was clear but I don't think you fully believe it. I miss you. Not in some cheesy, let's hold hands and be together forever way. I just miss you. Plain and simple. I miss your presence in my life. I miss you always being there for me. I miss my best friend," Emma admitted.

"I miss you too, the old you. The new one sucks," Will confessed, and saw the corners of Emma's mouth turn up in a half-smile. "Did you want um, apologize now? Because I don't think it's um, a good place to talk," Will continued.

"Oh no, um, you could come to my apartment tomorrow, we could just get it all out there. I'll just get out what I need to apologize and if you have anything, anything at all to say, then you can tell me," Emma suggested, glancing at Will with hopeful eyes.

Will hesitated before replying, "Okay, uh, what time should I come?"

"How about two in the afternoon? I can make lunches," Emma offered.

"Alright. Emma?" Will added.

"Yeah?"

"Is that guy you were with, Carl?"

"Um, yes, but I'm going to break up with him," Emma said, quickly. She didn't want Will to think that her and Carl were anything close to serious.

"I don't think you should, I don't want to get in the way of your happiness," Will said, lying. Even after all the crap they've been through, he still wanted the best for Emma.

"No, Will, he's the only thing getting in the way of my happiness," Emma admitted, but Will still didn't smile. In fact, she hadn't seen the signature lopsided grin since the incident.

"Okay," Will replied, heading towards the door.

"Okay, well bye. I'll see you tomorrow," Emma said, stepping into the doorway.

"See you," Will replied, painful as it was.

"Will?" Emma whispered, catching his attention. "Your song was really great."

"Thanks," Will replied, and with that Emma walked away from him again. Will secretly hoped that Emma would never truly walk out of his life because somewhere deep-down in his sub-conscience, he knew that he needed her, because she completed him.

_**So what did you guys think? I just wanted to say that I updated in three days…yay! I really thought this chapter was good and I hope that you guys thought so too. I hope I'll be able to update soon, again. I think that this story will only have at the most…five more chapters. It'll be sad to end this story, I really enjoy writing it. I hope that I can update my other story I Wish by Saturday for those of you who are also reading (and hopefully) enjoying my other story. Once I finish one of the two I will be writing more Wemma stories. Some of my ideas are posted on my profile, so please check them out and let me know which one you think is best. Your reviews make my day…so please review! **___


	12. Chapter 12 A New Hello

Chapter 12- A New Hello

_**Author's Note- Hi everybody! Sorry, I meant to finish this chapter yesterday but I was busy training for something. It's only a week and a day since I last updated so that's not too bad. I just realized that I didn't give credit to the song's artist last chapter, which was Apologize by One Republic. Thanks for all the lovely reviews last chapter! You guys are too nice! This chapter is from where we left off; Will sang Apologize, Emma went to his classroom and talked to him again, and now Will's supposed to go to her apartment tomorrow so he can hear her out. Enjoy! **___

Emma walked over to her boyfriend, Carl, who was engrossed in a conversation with the English teacher. "Hey Carl," Emma said, as Carl waved bye to the other teacher and walked over to Emma.

"Hi Emma, how'd it go?" Carl asked, his perfectly white teeth on display.

"It actually went pretty well, we're going to get together tomorrow and basically, apologize," Emma replied, cheerfully.

"That's great, Emma. So…Emma, is there anything you're not telling me? You know you can tell me anything," Carl questioned, as Emma's eyes grew wide.

"Carl…I'm so sorry," Emma pleaded before Carl cut her off.

"It's okay. Um, I know now. Everything. Mr. Booker, the English teacher, told me. He was pretty surprised that I didn't know. I'm not mad at you because I know that what you did to Will was a mistake, even though it was a pretty cruel one," Carl admitted, smiling sadly.

"I'm really sorry that I didn't tell you. It's just it was huge and really horrible, really horrible. Will's such a nice guy and…I just, the last thing I wanted was to hurt him," Emma confessed, looking up at Carl.

"You should go out with Will again. You and I both know you used me to get over him, and honestly, I'm okay with that. The last week of my life has been great with you but I don't want to stop you from finding your soul mate," Carl said.

"What? What do you mean by soul mate?" Emma asked.

"You and Will belong together, it's obvious. No other guy would even listen to an apology from a girl who burned him unless he still really did love her," Carl explained.

"Really? You think he still loves me?" Emma asked, with big, brown eyes.

"I know that at least half of his heart still does. He's just fighting a battle within himself but trust me, you guys are meant to be," Carl said, glancing down at Emma.

"So, is this the end? Of us, I mean," Emma asked.

"Yeah, but every time you say good bye, life rewards you with a new hello," Carl replied, his brown eyes sad. "And there is no doubt in my mind that Will is your new hello."

"Thank you," Emma said, quietly.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride home," Carl suggested, making his way to the door. Emma grinned; Carl would make a great boyfriend to somebody but not to her. It was a simple problem; he just wasn't Will.

_Where are they going? I thought Em was breaking up with him. Oh, well, I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Oh boy, tomorrow. I'm going to her house! That's a big thing for us, after what happened. What am I talking about? There is no 'us'. She hurt me and I'm not going to just take her back…I already had one Terri in my life and I don't need or want another one. Look on the bright side, maybe tomorrow will go well. Sure, I won't forgive her right away but maybe our relationship will slowly heal until we're best friends again. Yeah, best friends, nothing more. We already had our shot at that and look how it turned out, _Will thought as he watched Emma leaving with Carl. Rachel walked up to her zoned-out teacher.

"How are you holding up?" Rachel asked, following Will's gaze.

"Good, I think," Will replied.

"Mike saw you talking to her in your room. Are you okay?" Rachel asked once more.

_Geez, do these kids see everything?_ Will thought to himself before responding. "I'm good actually. Um, we're going to try and work it out tomorrow." Rachel looked up at him quizzically.

"It'll be a Christmas miracle," the young student replied, happily.

"Excuse me?" Will asked, confused.

"If you and Ms. P. get back together, even as friends because tomorrow's the 23rd and then Christmas is only two days away," Rachel explained, enthusiastically.

"Oh, yeah, I guess. Aren't you Jewish?" Will asked, confused once more.

"Of course but I live in Lima, Ohio, we still celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah," Rachel replied, looking at Mr. Schue like he was six.

"Oh, cool. Well, I'm going to go now," Will said, waving before spinning around and out the door.

Emma sat on her bed, thinking about the night's events. _Listened to Will's song, broke up with Carl, had two angsty conversations with Will, and I'm going to apologize to him tomorrow. Wow, what a night! At least, I have the future to look forward to. Will and I's future because that's the only other person who matters. We'll have a future together, right? I think we will because he and I both know that half of his heart belongs to me and always will. Right now, my whole heart belongs to him but he hasn't figured that out yet. I wonder if he ever will. If he'll ever know how much I love him because I truly do love him, _the guidance counselor thought. If only life was that easy, though. If only everyone could know who they belonged with and didn't have to go through heartbreak and confusion to find them. If only you didn't have to say good bye to find a new hello.

_**So what did you think? We're officially moving forwards to a better situation for Will and Emma! Yay! Please review! I love hearing from you guys, it makes my day. I'll hopefully have the last chapter for I Wish out tomorrow and will try to update this within a week. R&R, please! **___


	13. Chapter 13 I'm Sorry

Chapter 13- I'm Sorry

_**Author's Note- Hey everybody! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, you guys make my day! This chapter is finally the long-awaited apology, if you can't remember Will's going to Emma's apartment to hear her out. This chapter was really hard to write, so I hope you like it. Enjoy! **___

Emma Pillsbury put out two sandwiches on plates for her and Will. She wanted everything to be perfect for him. The guidance counselor ran over to her laptop and ejected the CD from it and placed it in a case. _He should be here any minute now. I just really hope that Will forgives me; I know that I'll never be able to forgive myself for what I did to him. Please say this goes well, _Emma thought. Her doorbell rang and Emma scurried over to the door. _God, I look horrible, _she thought, smoothing the creases in her skinny jeans and blouse. Emma opened the door and Will was standing on the other side, with a sad smile on his face.

"Uh, hi," Will greeted, running a hand through his chestnut curls nervously. He was wearing a gray Abercrombie & Fitch hoodie and a pair of dark blue jeans.

"Hi Will, come in," Emma said. Will glanced around the apartment as he bent down to pull off his Nike Lunarlons. Emma smiled, she didn't even ask him to take of his shoes and he did. No matter what, he was always thinking of her. "Do you want to eat first?" she asked.

"Sure," Will replied, following Emma to the table.

"Do you want to take your sweatshirt off? I can put it in the closet," Emma suggested, hoping that he'd say yes.

"Okay," Will agreed, pulling his sweatshirt off over his head and handing it to her.

"You can start eating; I'll go put this away," Emma said. When she got to the closet, she slipped the CD into the sweatshirt's front pocket.

Will looked up as Emma took her seat across from him. "Hey," he said, offering a half-smile.

"How's the sandwich?" Emma asked, Will only had a few bites left.

"Good," Will replied, finishing the sandwich.

"Um, I made cookies, if you want any," Emma offered, walking over to the counter.

"That was nice of you," Will said, taking a cookie. _Yeah, like I've been anything remotely near nice lately, _Emma thought.

"They're really good," Will said, wearing that sad smile again. It looked like his mouth wanted to be happy but his heart was stopping him.

"Thanks," Emma replied. "Do you want to uh, like sit down and talk now?" Emma suggested.

"I guess," Will mumbled, sitting down on the sofa beside her. Their legs were only inches apart and Emma had to resist the urge to put her hand on his knee, in a comforting way.

"Will," Emma started. Will was looking at the ground, running his hands through his hair relentlessly. It reminded Emma of how she acted when in panic; frustrated and scared. Emma placed her hands on Will's and slowly pulled them away from his head. "It's okay, it's just me," she whispered.

Will glanced up at her, "Sorry," he said, softly.

"No, it's okay. You have the right to be nervous or mad," Emma replied. "Can I start now?" Emma asked, looking at him with curious eyes. Will nodded slowly and Emma squeezed his hand, reassuringly. "Will, I'm sorry, I really am. I know that sorry will never make up for what I did to you but it's how I feel right now. I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed with Sue. I should've known that this was going to end up hurting you. But at the time I was blinded, I didn't know what I wanted. If I could go back and time and do it over again, I would've never done any of that mean stuff. Will, you're the nicest and sweetest guy I know and I hurt you, really badly. Yet, you didn't do anything to hurt me in return. As far as I'm aware, you haven't said anything mean about me to anyone. I will never forgive myself for what I've done to you. I don't want this to become the relationship that you had with Terri. She walked all over you and hurt your feelings over and over again. I hope you know that I'm not like that. I respect you, Will. I want to support you in everything. Will, I've missed you over this past week. We didn't talk like we used to and I miss that. I miss all our conversations that we usually have. I hope that one day; you'll find it in your heart to forgive me. I know you're probably not going to be okay for a while. When you see me, you'll probably think of all the mean things I've done this past week. I just really, really miss my best friend. That's all I'm asking for, Will. I just want my best friend back," Emma finished. She looked up; Will had his back to her and was hunched over. Emma put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Will, say something."

Will exhaled shakily and turned to face Emma. How he looked made Emma want to cry; gone was the confident man and in his place was a scared little boy. Will's bottom lip was quivering and his eyes were glassed over with unshed tears. She could tell that he was trying hard not to cry. "It's okay to cry, Will," Emma whispered. Will swallowed hard but the tears began spilling over. Soon, his head was in his hands and he was sobbing. After a few minutes, Emma put her hand back on his shoulder, "Hey, do you want a hug?" she asked, softly.

"N-no," Will whispered, shakily.

"Do you even know what I just said?" Emma questioned, looking at Will's hurt face. Will nodded slowly. "What did I say, then?"

"Do you want a hug?" Will said, not realizing what was happening.

"Well, if you insist," Emma replied, smiling. Emma wrapped her small arms around Will and soon Will smiled and hugged her back.

"Em, I'm sorry," Will choked, his head still resting on her shoulder.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Emma said, she could feel his tears soaking into her blouse but right now she didn't care.

"I'm so sorry that I kissed Shelby. This is all my fault. I'm s-so sor-ry," Will sobbed.

"It's okay," Emma replied, hugging him tighter. After a few seconds of staying in each other's arms, Will pulled away.

Emma looked at his tear stained cheeks and raised her hand. She gingerly wiped away the falling tears, with tenderness that was unknown to Will.

"I-I need some time to think," Will declared, finally looking into Emma's brown eyes.

"That's fine, Will. Let me know when you make up your mind, I'll be waiting for you," Emma replied, smiling. They both stood up and made their way to the door. "Thanks for coming, Will."

"I'm glad I did," Will said, actually smiling for the first time in a while. Emma reached into the closet and pulled out his sweatshirt, handing it to him. "Bye, Em."

"Bye, Will," Emma said, as he walked out the door.

Will sat in his car, playing the events back in his head. As he pulled his seatbelt on, something in his pocket shifted. Will reached into his pocket and pulled out a CD. _When did that get here? _He wondered. He flipped it over; there was a note on the front. It read; _To Will, I'm really sorry. Please play this. _Will looked at the CD; it had to be from Emma. It suddenly clicked in his head, that's why she took his sweatshirt to the closet; to slip in the CD. As Will pulled out of the driveway, he slipped in the CD, curiously.

_**So what did you think? Did you like it? I'm going to say it again, but this chapter was so hard to write! Also, today I published a Thanksgiving one-shot for Wemma, of course. Please check that out! Please read and review, I would love to know what you guys thought of this chapter! I hope you liked the apology! R&R! **___


	14. Chapter 14 Begin Again

Chapter 14- Begin Again

_**Author's Note- Hey everybody! Thanks for all the awesome reviews last chapter! This is from where we left off; Will found Emma's CD and just put it in his car's CD player. Here's the chapter, enjoy! **___

Will Schuester was driving down the road as the CD began playing. He glanced down at the case; there was no explanation for what was on it. The Spanish teacher snapped his head up as he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Will, it's me, Emma. I made this CD shortly before you arrived at my apartment. I hope that everything at my apartment went well. I know that you probably aren't ready to fully forgive me yet, so I hope that this will help you make your decision. You always tell the glee kids that when you don't know how to say how you feel, it's easier to express yourself through song. Well, I'm going to try that and hopefully I don't make a fool out of myself," Emma said. Will smiled; it wasn't often that he got to hear Emma sing.

_"I can't get you out of the sunlight,"_

_ "I can't get you out of the rain,"_

_ "I can't get you back to that one time,"_

_ "Cause you and me are still recovering," _Emma sang, confidently. Will grinned; he couldn't believe she had actually taken the time to record herself singing for him.

_"So let's just, try to cool it down,"_

_ "The fighting, this feeling of flames,"_

_ "So let's just try to slow it down,"_

_ "We crash when we race,"_

_ "Oh this is not the way it should end,"_

_ "It's the way it should begin,"_

_ "It's the way it should begin, again,"_

_ "No, I never wanna fall apart,"_

_ "Never wanna break your heart,"_

_ "Never wanna let you break my own,"_

_ "Yes, I know we've said a lot of things,"_

_ "That we probably didn't mean,"_

_ "But it's not too late to take them back,"_

_ "So, before you say you're gonna go…"_

_ "I should probably let you know,"_

_ "That I never knew what I had…"_

_ "I never knew what I had…" _Emma continued. Will could picture her singing this in front of her laptop, thinking of him. He clutched the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. Will was so lost inside the middle of his heart.

_"See I look for you in the morning,"_

_ "Cause that's what my mind always calls,"_

_ "And I can't wait to get to the evening,"_

_ "Cause that's when I want you the most,"_

_ "So let's just try to cool it down,"_

_ "The fighting, this feeling of flames,"_

_ "So let's just try to slow it down,"_

_ "We crash when we race,"_

_ "Oh this is not the way that it should end,"_

_ "It's the way it should begin,"_

_ "It's the way it should begin, again,"_

_ "No, I never wanna fall apart,"_

_ "Never wanna break your heart,"_

_ "Never wanna let you break my own,"_

_ "Yes, I know we've said a lot of things,"_

_ "That we probably didn't mean,"_

_ "But it's not too late to take them back,"_

_ "So, before you say you're gonna go…"_

_ "I should probably let you know,"_

_ "That I never knew what I had…"_

_ "I never knew what I had…"_

_ "But I know it now…"_

_ "I wish I would've known before,"_

_ "How good we were…"_

_ "Or is it too late to come back,"_

_ "Or is it really over," _Will wondered if it was really over between them. Was it?

_"If it's really over…"_

_ "But this is not the way that it should end,"_

_ "It's the way it should begin,"_

_ "It's the way it should begin, again,"_

_ "No, I never wanna fall apart,"_

_ "Never wanna break your heart,"_

_ "Never wanna let you break my own,"_

_ "Yes, I know we've said a lot of things,"_

_ "That we probably didn't mean,"_

_ "But it's not too late to take them back,"_

_ "So, before you say you're gonna go…"_

_ "I should probably let you know,"_

_ "That I never knew what I had…"_

_ "I never knew what I had…"_

_ "I never knew what I had,"_

_ "I never knew what I had,"_

_ "I never knew what I had," _Emma finished, as Will pulled into his driveway. Will smiled sadly; the song's lyrics explained what they were going through perfectly.

"Will, I'm really sorry. I was stupid; I couldn't see that I had the greatest thing in the world right in front of me. You're the best friend I ever had, I'm not kidding. All I want is to begin again with you. It shouldn't end this way, with us in a huge fight. I think we should just start over, from the beginning. So, hi I'm Emma Pillsbury, and I hope that someday you'll be able to introduce yourself to me, when you're ready," Emma said, as the CD ended.

Will smiled and got out of his car. It was snowing lightly, the white flurries finding their way into his unruly curls. He took the CD with him and jogged up the steps to his apartment. Will unlocked the door and walked inside. The Spanish teacher made his way to the CD player and slipped the CD in, to listen to the sweet and caring voice on the other end once more. He hummed along as he heated up a mug of hot chocolate, thinking of Emma. _I think I forgive her. No, wait, maybe I should give this more time. Well, it's been a week and like Emma said, we can gradually work our way up to best friends again. Gradually, slowly, not fast. She was just being so sweet today; the way she didn't laugh but instead understood me breaking down again and made the CD for me. It was really nice of her and the song choice was perfect. I think I'm falling in love with her all over again…crap, I was supposed to be mad at her. I don't think I'm very good at being mad. In fact, I don't think I ever was mad at Emma, I was just really hurt. Should I contact her? I mean we're on break, so we won't be able to see each other for a while. I don't think that I can go another week without talking to her. Okay, so I can forgive her…slowly. Like baby steps, _Will thought, pulling his hot chocolate out of the microwave. He sipped on the warm drink and glanced around the room; it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Will had a tree up and a stocking among other decorations. The Spanish teacher was going to be spending the holidays with his parents and his brother, along with his brother's family. Finally making up his mind, Will whipped his cell phone out of his pocket.

He scrolled down his contacts, stopping at Emma. Will stopped for a second, composing a message in his head.

_ Hi, I'm Will Schuester. It's nice to meet you. ;) _Will typed out, sending the text before he could stop himself. His cell buzzed immediately, Will looked down; he had a text from Emma. _Hmm, I feel like I know you. ;) _It read. Will smiled; glad they were finally talking about something normal. _Me too, I really loved your song, Em. Thank you so much. I think we can try to slowly begin again. _Will sent the text and eagerly awaited the reply. _And I think that that's a great idea, _Emma sent him. Will smiled before sending her one last text; _;). _

_**So what did you guys think? We're on the road to Wemma recovery, yay! I hope you guys liked this chapter, I updated in three days which is awesome. Please review and I'll update soon! ;)**_


	15. Chapter 15 Family Affairs

Chapter 15- Family Affairs

_**Author's Note- Hey everybody! Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, you guys are awesome! I saw someone else ask this question and I was curious to what you guys think…how old do you think based off my writing? I would love to hear what you think in a review. Here's the chapter, enjoy! ;)**_

"Will, come on. Let's go watch some Christmas movies," Mrs. Schuester called after her son. Will walked into the den and sat down on the sofa next to his older brother. The whole Schuester family had gathered at their parents' house for Christmas day. There was Will, his parents, his older brother; Zach, Zach's wife, and their two young kids.

"What are we watching?" Will asked, smiling.

"Elf with Will Ferrell," Zach replied, wrapping his arm around his wife. Will immediately thought of Emma, he missed her. They had texted each other a few times yesterday, but it felt wrong; like they were avoiding the big elephant in the room. He hadn't heard from her today yet, but knew that her whole family was going to Emma's condo for Christmas day as well. Their texts so far had been nice but it was like walking on egg shells, none of them brought up the incident once. Will's phone buzzed in the pocket of his khakis. _Maybe it's Emma, _he thought, hopefully. Will checked his phone, it read; 1 new text message from Emma. He opened the text as fast as the phone would allow him to.

_How's your Christmas, so far? The day's almost over did you guys exchange presents yet? ;) _Emma's text read. Will smiled and stared at the screen dopily. _It's good but I kinda wish you were here. We did get our presents already. I got some CDs from my brother's family and a gray and blue striped tie from my parents. What about you? ;)_ Will typed back. He sent the message and waited for a reply. _I wish you were here too! I got Purell from my brother and a new laptop from my parents. I have a present for you though. I can give it to you whenever you're comfortable hanging out with me again, _Will read. Emma was being really nice to him ever since the whole thing happened and Will just wanted everything to go back to normal again. Will smiled and glanced at the TV screen, his whole family seemed to be clueless about the texts they were exchanging.

"Who are you texting, Will?" Zach asked, trying to peer at his phone.

"Just a friend," Will said, nervously. He didn't feel like putting up with his brother's teasing and nagging right now.

"What's her name?" Emily, Zach's wife questioned. Before Will could reply to her, Zach snatched the phone out of Will's hands. Zach began reading the texts out loud so that everyone could hear, even the little ones. Will buried his face in his hands and waited for it to be over.

"Ooh, Emma. Hmm, 'when you're comfortable hanging out with me again.' Sounds like she broke little Will's heart or something," Zach laughed.

"Be nice to him," Mrs. Schuester scolded. "What happened dear?" she asked Will.

Will shrugged, frustrated. "We had a little fight but it's good now," Will lied. _Well, that's about half the truth, _he thought.

"Looks like he's not going to give all the gory details, boring," Zach added, tossing the phone back to Will. After a few minutes, everyone turned back to the movie and Will was about to start texting Emma again. Taylor, Zach and Emily's four-year-old daughter crawled up on Will's lap. She rested her head on his chest. Will smiled; he knew that Taylor really liked him.

"Nope, Daddy you're wrong. His heart still works, I can hear it making sounds," Taylor declared. Will laughed along with the rest of the adults.

"That's right Taylor, I'm fine," Will said, smiling down at the little girl.

_I have something for you too. I think I'm free on the 27__th__, can you hang out then? _Emma read, happy that Will replied instead of shying away.

"So, who's the lucky guy?" Emma's brother, James asked. James grinned as he dried off his hands; they had just finished doing the dishes.

"What are you talking about?" Emma said, feeling her cheeks heating up already.

"Um, the guy you've been texting this whole night. I'm not stupid, Emma, nobody smiles like that for just a friend," James pressed, grinning.

"Well, actually we're not dating but he is my really good friend," Emma confessed, smiling just thinking about Will.

"Does this friend have a name?" James questioned.

"His name is Will. He has brown curly hair, amazing hazel eyes, and a nice smile," Emma gushed, not realizing how in love she sounded.

"Wow, you must really love him."

"No, I, uh, just friends," Emma stammered, nervously.

"For now," James laughed.

"It's complicated, you wouldn't understand," Emma replied, swatting him with the towel.

"That's right I wouldn't understand, even though I'm married," James said.

Mrs. Pillsbury entered the room, watching her two grown child bickering. "Will it ever end?" she laughed.

"So, did you hear about Emma's mystery guy?" James asked.

Emma's mom raised her eyebrow quizzically. "Mystery guy?"

"His name's Will," James said, while Emma rolled her eyes.

Mrs. Pillsbury smiled as she instantly recognized that this was Will, the glee coach. "Emma! You didn't tell me that you two had worked things out," she exclaimed, happily.

Emma's big, brown eyes darted over to James, picking up the hint James walked out of the room. "Sort of. I mean, we're not dating or anything but a few days ago we had a talk," Emma started.

"And?" her mom questioned.

"Well, we're friends again but just friends. We're taking everything really slowly including our friendship. I don't think he's looking to date me right away," Emma admitted.

"I'm proud of you, Emma. You did the right thing and I can't wait for you and Will to be together again," Mrs. Pillsbury said. Emma smiled and hugged her mom, despite her OCD issues. Emma whipped out her phone again. _The 27__th__ sounds great to me. ;) _Emma wrote and sent it to Will.

_**So what did you guys think? Did you like it? The next chapter will be them hanging out, yay! Please review and answer my question! There's been a dip in reviewing lately and I would really appreciate hearing from all of you! ;)**_


	16. Chapter 16 So Close, Yet So Far

Chapter 16- So Close, Yet So Far

_**Author's Note- Hey everybody! Thanks for all the lovely reviews last chapter; all of you are so nice. Sadly, the next chapter will be the last of this story. I'm already writing a new wemma story though, it's called Christmas with the Pillsburys, you guys should check it out. After I finish this story I already have another one planned. Okay, this chapter takes place on the 27**__**th**__**, their decided 'hang out' day. Here's the chapter, enjoy! ;)**_

Will Schuester's doorbell rang twice and the curly-haired teacher ran to go get it. He already knew who it was going to be; Emma. _She's right on time, _Will thought, glancing at his clock. It was three in the afternoon, their pre-arranged meeting time. "Hey Emma," Will greeted, swinging open the door. "Come in."

Emma walked in, glancing around the apartment. She was wearing a white North Face jacket and light blue skinny jeans. "Hi Will," she said, smiling. Will had spent all day trying to clean up his apartment for her; it had been a long project. "Your place looks nice."

"Thanks, I cleaned it before you came over," Will replied, happily. Emma smiled, she could tell from where she was standing that he used window cleaner on the kitchen counters but decided not to mention it. "So, I was wondering…what would you like to do?" he asked.

"Whatever you want, um, I have your present if you want it," Emma offered, holding up a small green and red wrapped box.

Will ran his left hand through his caramel curls, looking a little frustrated. "Em…I don't know how to say this but my present for you is running late. I ordered it online and they called a few days ago and said it won't be here until New Year's Eve," Will mumbled, frustrated.

Emma laughed. "That's fine, Will. I don't mind at all but here's yours," she said, handing over the present.

"Thanks," Will mentioned, ripping open the wrapping paper like a little kid on Christmas morning. Will pulled out a blue and gray striped American Eagle zip-up hoodie and a $25 iTunes gift card. "This is awesome Em, I love it!" Will exclaimed, holding up the hoodie. He gave her a quick hug and smiled.

"You're welcome, Will," Emma said. For her, the hug from him was like a Christmas present on its own. It was a symbol of their slowly mending friendship.

"I was thinking maybe you would like to go on a walk or something? We can stop at Starbucks, if you want," Will suggested, smiling.

"That sounds great," Emma replied, standing up. Will pulled the new hoodie on, it fit perfectly.

"It fits perfectly," Will remarked, grabbing his wallet and closing the door behind them.

"I thought it would," Emma laughed, as the two bounded down the steps.

"It's nice out," Emma mentioned, as light snow flurries danced across the sky. It wasn't too cold but a little chilly, the perfect winter temperature. Walking side by side their hands kept brushing against each other's, sending warmth through each of their bodies. After a few more seconds of the constant sparks, Emma held Will's hand. Will looked up, innocently. "Sorry, I just, you know, as friends, I should, um, you know, go," Emma stammered.

"No, it's fine. I like it," Will said, sweetly. He wrapped his hand around Emma's, their fingers intertwined again. Even though both of them wouldn't say it, they both enjoyed it a lot more than they would admit. They walked in a comfortable silence for a few more minutes, their hands swaying in rhythm. "I love the trees," Will commented, using his free hand to point at the pine trees coated in white snow. The town looked like something out of a Christmas card.

"Me too, they look so pretty," Emma agreed, cheerfully. Everything felt so right, except for the fact that they were no longer a couple.

"Starbucks?" Will suggested, rounding the corner.

"Sounds great," Emma replied. The two walked into the café, their hands still linked.

"I can order, if you want to go get a nice table in the back," Will offered, walking towards the counter.

"Sure, but you don't have to pay," Emma said.

"But I'm going to," Will replied, smiling that special smile reserved for Emma. Emma smiled and began walking to get a booth, as Will walked up to the barista.

"What can I get for you?" the barista asked, he looked to be a twenty-something college student most likely.

Will glanced at the menu behind him. "Um, how about two hot chocolates," Will said, pulling out his wallet.

"Okay, that'll be $8.45." Will forked over the money and the young man came back a few minutes later with two hot chocolates. "Here you go and have a great day."

"Thanks," Will mumbled, spotting Emma in a booth in the back. "Hey, I got you a hot chocolate, is that okay?"

"That's perfect," Emma replied, taking a sip of her drink. Will took a long gulp of his and then looked at Emma.

"I'm really glad we're doing this Emma," Will confessed, looking at her with hope in his hazel eyes.

"Me too," Emma agreed, boldly taking Will's hand from across the table. Will flinched under her contact before melting under her embrace. "How has glee club been?"

"They've been doing good, the dance was a big success," Will explained, glancing at their hands every so often. Emma thought back to the dance when Will sang 'Apologize' to her, which seemed like ages ago.

They engaged in pleasant conversation after that, their topics ranging from glee club to Sue to the most random things. It was like Emma was seeing Will for the very first time, she was studying him. She watched how he closed his eyes every so often when he spoke, his long eyelashes resting on his cheekbones. She noticed how Will bit his lip when he was a little nervous or tense. How after he took a sip of hot chocolate, a little trail of the liquid dribbled down his chin, seemingly unnoticed by him. Emma gazed into his hazel eyes, close enough to see the specks of gold scattered around the pupil. Mostly, she noticed how seemed to let his guard down when he thought she wasn't looking. His eyes would flit over to their hands and he would smile dreamily, not knowing she was watching him. It was now, that Emma knew. She knew Will was the one for her.

"Oh, this song's hard," Will whined, playfully. They had been at his apartment for the past two hours, playing game's on his Wii. They were on their second round of Just Dance 2 and Emma had just picked the song 'Airplanes.'

"Come on, Will. You're a great dancer," Emma praised, smiling as the song began. Emma got ahead right away as Will quickly fell behind. Emma had won most of the songs so far and Will had lost badly for some of them. The two continued dancing, until Emma began falling. Emma had tripped over her own feet and collided with Will. A quick tumble later, Emma was lying on top of Will, reminding them both of their first dance together. They both breathed heavily and Emma looked at Will intensely, her brown eyes darting down to his lips. Their foreheads rested together, their lips just centimeters away. Emma glanced down at his mouth one more time, inching her face a little bit closer, attempting to close the gap between them. All of a sudden, Will rolled over, out from under Emma. Will jumped to his feet and pulled Emma up. Emma looked into his eyes, searching for an answer in pools of hazel. She could tell he backed off because he was scared, nervous, and most of all, still a little hurt. Emma felt so stupid, how could she be so forward? Why had she tried to kiss him and ruin a perfectly good time?

"Sorry about that," Emma murmured, looking down at the ground. Emma looked at the den's clock; it was 6:30 already. "I should go, it's getting late."

"Um, yeah," Will replied, his hand rubbing the back of his neck timidly. Emma noticed that he was biting his bottom lip, nervously.

"I had a great time," Emma mentioned, walking towards the door.

"Me too," Will whispered, feeling stupid. _What's wrong with me? Why didn't I just kiss her like she wanted me too? Now, she probably feels stupid…and so do I. God, I'm being such a baby, _Will thought, sadly.

"Bye, Will," Emma replied, running out the door before he could even say bye. Will sighed, they had held hands today but when it came time to kiss, he backed down. They were so close, yet so far to their happy ending.

_**So what did you think? Did you like it? Was it good or bad? The next chapter will be the last one; I hope you liked this chapter! It was very hard to write, so I appreciate any and all reviews! I'll update within a week, R&R please! ;) **_


	17. Chapter 17 Half of My Heart

Chapter 17- Half of My Heart

_**Author's Note- Hi everybody! Thanks for all the awesome reviews last chapter; all of you have been so nice throughout this story. Well, sadly, this is the last chapter. I have really enjoyed writing this story and I hope that all of you liked it. I tried really hard on this ending and I hope I got it right. HannahAli, I didn't want to tell you before to spoil anything, but yeah, I am using 'that song' you mentioned earlier. That was the plan from the beginning. Here's the chapter ;)**_

Will Schuester was sprawled out on his sofa, texting Emma again. It was the thirty-first of December, New Year's Eve. The two had been texting each other and talking on the phone since their almost-kiss but still no one ever brought it up. Will really wanted to see Emma again before they went back to school. He glanced out the window and came up with an idea. He typed out a message to Emma and sent it right away. It read; _Em, do you want to spend New Year's Eve together? You can come over and we can hang out…you know do the countdown thing and stuff to the New Year. _Will drummed his fingers on the arm of the sofa, waiting for a reply. His phone buzzed and he looked down hopefully. _Sure! Can I come at nine? So we won't have to wait that long until midnight, _it read. Will quickly told her sure and then looked at the den's clock. It was six-thirty now, so in less than three hours Emma would be here.

It was nine at night and Will's doorbell rang. He ran to the door and opened it to find Emma holding a bottle of sparkling grape juice. "Hi Emma," he greeted, as he waved her into his apartment. He took her green North Face jacket from her and hung it on the coat rack.

"Hey Will. I brought this for when the clock hits midnight…it's what I always did," Emma explained, handing the bottle to him. Will smiled gratefully back at her.

"Thanks, you didn't have to," Will smiled, placing the bottle on the kitchen counter.

"I really thought I should, after everything," Emma said. Will winced at the word 'everything,' remembering what had happened the past few weeks. "But, hey, it's to new beginnings, right?"

"Yeah, new beginnings," Will smiled, liking that idea. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Emma replied, glancing around the room. She spotted some Blockbuster-rented movies on the coffee table and walked over.

"We can watch one," Will offered, watching as she flipped through his movies.

"Let's see," Emma smiled. "_The Hunger Games_, _The Avengers, _and_ The Adjustment Bureau._ All very good movies but my favorite is _The Adjustment Bureau._"

Will smiled. "Mine too. Want to watch it?"

"Sure." Will walked over and slipped the movie into the DVD player. After the screen got to the menu, he pressed play and walked back over to Emma. Will plopped down on the sofa next to her and suddenly hated the space between them. He knew they weren't quite in a relationship yet but still, he was ready to be near her. Will looked at Emma; she was absorbed in the movie. He didn't want to be obvious so he started counting to ten in his head, every time he reached ten; he would scoot slightly closer to her. Will continued doing this, and after a few minutes he was only a foot away from her. Will was pretty sure that Emma had no idea what he was doing but actually she knew exactly what he was doing. Emma smiled and instead of waiting for him to move again slightly, Emma sat up and moved over next to him so that they were touching. Will pretended to be watching the movie, acting like Emma didn't just catch him.

"You were being a little too obvious, Will," Emma whispered, her breath hitting the tip of his ear. Will blushed and looked down at his lap.

"Sorry," Will mumbled.

"I thought it was cute," Emma laughed. "You have nothing to worry about." Will smiled and the two went back to the movie.

The movie ended around eleven and Will popped the disc back into its case. "Emma, I have your Christmas present," Will announced, smiling.

"Okay," Emma smiled.

"Just hang on one second," Will said, running out of the room in a way that made Emma laugh. Will appeared back in the den a minute later, holding his acoustic guitar and a small box wrapped in green paper. Emma looked at him, quizzically; secretly hoping that he was going to sing to her. "It's kind of a two part present," Will explained. "I'd like to sing something for you, if that's okay."

Emma smiled. "That's more than okay."

Will sat down on the footrest in front of Emma and positioned his fingers on the right guitar chords. Will started playing a familiar tune and hummed along, Emma smiled, encouragingly.

_"I was born in the arms of imaginary friends," _

_ "Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I've been,"_

_ "Then you come crashing in, like the realest thing," _Will sang, smiling. He thought of the first time he met Emma and how beautiful he thought she was.

_"Trying my best to understand all that your love can bring,"_

_ "Oh, half of my heart's got a grip on the situation,"_

_ "Half of my heart takes time,"_

_ "Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you,"_

_ "That I can't keep loving you, can't keep loving you,"_

_ "Oh, with half of my heart,"_

_ "I was made to believe I'd never love somebody else,"_

_ "I made a plan to stay the man who could only love himself," _

_ "Lonely was the song I sang, 'till the day you came,"_

_ "Showing me another way and all that my love can bring,"_

_ "Oh, half of my heart's got a grip on the situation,"_

_ "Half of my heart takes time,"_

_ "Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you,"_

_ "That I can't keep loving you, can't keep loving you,"_

_ "Oh, with half of my heart,"_

_ "With half of my heart," _

_ "Your faith is strong,"_

_ "But I can only fall short for so long," _Will sang, looking deep into Emma's brown eyes. Emma shook her head, knowing that Will could never fall short in her book with anything.

_"Down the road, later on,"_

_ "You will hate that I never gave more to you than half of my heart,"_

_ "But I can't stop loving you,"_

_ "I can't stop loving you,"_

_ "I can't stop loving you,"_

_ "I can't stop loving you,"_

_ "But I can't stop loving you with half of my…"_

_ "Half of my heart,"_

_ "Half of my heart,"_

_ "Half of my heart's got a real good imagination,"_

_ "Half of my heart's got you,"_

_ "Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you,"_

_ "That half of my heart won't do,"_

_ "Half of my heart is a shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring,"_

_ "Half of my heart is the part of a man who's never truly loved anything,"_

_ "Half of my heart,"_

_ "Half of my heart,"_

_ "Half of my heart,"_

_ "Half of my heart,"_

_ "Half of my heart,"_

_ "Half of my heart," _Will sang, finishing. Emma started clapping, smiling at Will. Will put the guitar down and slowly took her hands in his.

"Will, that was amazing!" Emma exclaimed, hoping that there was meaning behind that song.

"Thanks but there was a meaning behind that song. A big meaning," Will started. "Emma, all my life I've never really, fully, given myself to someone. I mean, I was married to Terri but I never really let her know the real me, warts and all. I guess you could say that I was afraid to open my heart to real love. And when Terri and I got divorced, it was only worse. I had never felt more vulnerable and afraid in my life. She had shattered my heart into a million pieces and let me tell you, it was not a good feeling. Then you came along and flipped my world upside down. You were so different than anything I'd ever known, you were loving and compassionate and actually cared about others. Terri was never like that. I had never felt being loved like that…it was magical. You loved me for who I was, not for who you thought I could be. You didn't spend all your time trying to crush my dreams, instead you encouraged them. The thing was, once we kissed and became a couple it was too much, too fast. Our love was so strong that I was blinded and confused. It was like being asleep for your whole life and then finally opening your eyes for the first time. The sheer force of your love for me was too strong. You…you made me feel too much," Will paused, looking at Emma thoughtfully. "You came along and made me feel more than I had ever felt in my life. I didn't even know what being in love felt like until I knew you. I didn't know what to make of this powerful feeling…I was scared and confused. It was overwhelming, really. I just, I don't know, no one's ever made me feel something like you did. But, like I said, you made me feel too much, too early, and I was nervous. So, I kissed Shelby, in hopes that the feeling would calm down. It was stupid really. Thinking that the feelings I had for you would slow down, by kissing someone else. If anything, the kiss made them grow even more and then I knew. I knew that you were the one, that this incredibly overwhelming feeling was true love." Will tilted his head, Emma's eyes were growing wet and Will could feel the tingling in his nose and throat that came before tears. "Then all of the bad stuff happened," he mumbled, his voice breaking on the last word.

"Will…I want to forget about the bad stuff. I understand what you did now and I was so stupid with everything. With Carl, and Sue and all the other bad stuff. I'm so sorry. Will, I love you. I finally said it…I love you," Emma announced, a few tears falling from her eyes.

Will pulled out a rectangular box and handed it to Emma. "It's your Christmas present," he uttered, trying hard not to give into the overwhelming urge to cry.

Emma opened it to find a silver necklace with a heart on it; the necklace was beautiful and looked to be expensive. Will slowly reached out and put the necklace on her. "Thank you, it's beautiful," Emma whispered.

"This necklace symbolizes my heart. I'm giving my heart to you, Emma. For the first time, I'm giving somebody my heart…my whole heart. Not half of it, but all of it. It's fragile and it's been broken but it's yours. And I know that you'll take good care of it," Will admitted, smiling at her through clouded vision. "I love you, Emma."

"I love you too, Will, more than anything," Emma declared, leaning over. Will quickly closed the gap between them, placing a sweet kiss to her lips. They pulled away slowly, both smiling like teenagers receiving their first kiss. Will saw the clock behind Emma, and noticed the time.

"It's midnight," Will whispered, smiling.

"Happy New Year's," Emma said, quickly running to the kitchen. Before Will could ask what she was doing she returned with two glasses of the sparkling juice. Emma handed one to him and clinked her glass with his. "To new beginnings," she announced.

"To new beginnings," Will repeated, taking a drink. For them, it really was a new beginning; a new beginning of true love and forgiveness, and finally taking a chance by loving someone with all of your heart, instead of half.

_**So what did you think of the ending? I hope that all of you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. This was my first ever fanfiction and I hope that it was a success. The songs I used throughout this story were Apologize by One Republic, Begin Again by Colbie Cailliat, and Half of My Heart by John Mayer and Taylor Swift. I want to thank everyone who reviewed but especially the people who reviewed all or almost every chapter; WrittenInCrayon, Moonbike, ma1teo, and r0ckgal. Big thank you to HannahAli and r0ckgal for your ideas for chapters. I hope everyone liked this and please review! I want to know what you thought of the story and this chapter…R&R! ;) My next wemma story will be a high school au…look out for it! R&R! ;)**_


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